USA As Represented by Secretary of the Navy

David E Johnson

David P Owen

Rodney O Peterson

Philip John Dudt

Curtis A Martin

Wayne C Jones

Roshdy George S Barsoum

George V Nagle

The present invention's stratified composite system of armor, as typically embodied, comprises a backing stratum and a strike stratum that includes elastomeric matrix material and low-density ceramic elements embedded therein and arranged (e.g., in one or more rows and one or more columns) along a geometric plane (or plural parallel geometric planes) corresponding to the front surface of the strike stratum. Some inventive embodiments also comprise a spall-containment stratum fronting the strike stratum. The density of the low-density ceramic material is in the approximate range 2.0-3.0 g/cm. In the strike stratum, the volume ratio of the low-density ceramic material to the elastomeric matrix material is in the approximate range 4-20. The present invention's emulative method for designing an inventive armor system typically involves configurative change of the inventive armor system's low-density ceramic material vis-&#xe0;-vis another armor system's high-density ceramic material so that the respective ceramic material areal densities are equal.

Method for designing and making a plural-layer composite armor system

Method for making ballistic armor using low-density ceramic material

Many military land vehicles are not designed to withstand extreme forces concomitant exploding mines. A vehicle's capacity to protect its occupants is inventively enhanced by structurally augmenting the vehicle, in lower structural portions closely related to the vehicle's cabin, with both elastomeric and rigid (non-elastomeric) materials. An elastomeric layer and a rigid layer (typically embodied as a metal or composite sheet or plate) are added to the vehicle in each of seven locations, viz., the four wheel wells (left-front, right-front, left-rear, right-rear), the two floorboards (left and right), and the intervening underside area. At each wheel well and floorboard location, the elastomer is sandwiched between the vehicle's existing rigid structure and the rigid member so as to form a tri-layer material system. At the intervening underside location, an elastomer-coated rigid member is attached with the elastomer face-down. The seven material systems are energy-dissipative and impact-deflective both locally and globally.

Mine and collision protection for passenger vehicle

Apparatus and method for accurately and efficiently metering at least one compressible fluid and at least one incompressible fluid for mixing, whereby pressure and therefore density is regulated with regard to each compressible fluid, and volume is regulated with regard to each compressible fluid as well as each incompressible fluid. Compressible fluids in particular are metered more accurately because the mass of each fluid is used as the variable measurement standard, both the density and the volume of each fluid being maintained at controlled and predictable levels. For some embodiments, synchronously interdependent, hydraulically independent regulation of the flow rates of the fluids serves not only to optimize metering accuracy but metering efficiency as well by accounting for relative compressibilities and viscosities between or among the fluids, therby permitting minimization of lag times between or among the flows of the fluids, in this way furthering integration of the individual metering processes of all the fluids into one coordinated system whereby the flows of all the fluids are mutually and/or concurrently controlled.

Metering system for compressible fluids

Growing community of inventors

Glen Burnie, MD, United States of America

David E Johnson