Lockheed Martin Corporation

Nathan L Weber

Slade H Gardner

Brian Taylor Rosenberger

Craig A Brice

Ring-shaped shape memory alloys put disk-shaped ceramic materials in a state of compression. The rings are radially deformed to introduce plastic strain into the rings. The rings are sized to closely receive the disk-shaped ceramic strike plates. When the assembly is heated, the rings attempt to regain their original shape and thereby put the ceramic strike plates into uniform, two-dimensional compression.

System, method, and apparatus for improving the performance of ceramic armor materials with shape memory alloys

A ballistic armor uses shape memory alloys and novel joining techniques to form a solution from a combination of shape memory metallic alloys (SMA) and ceramic materials. The SMA allows a high amount of strain to be recovered through a low temperature heat treatment. The amount of strain recoverable is much higher than that available through conventional thermal expansion mismatch solutions. Solid state or low temperature bonding methods are used to join the dissimilar materials. This joining technique avoids introducing excessive heat that would cause the SMA to transform before the armor system is assembled.

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Fort Worth, TX, United States of America

Nathan L Weber