US Government As Represented by the Secretary of the Army

Corning Incorporated

Parimal J Patel

Gary A Gilde

Steven Alvin Tietje

Huan-Hung Sheng

Leonard Charles Dabich, Ii

Jian-Zhi Jay Zhang

James W McCauley

David M Spagnuolo

William J Croft

Clifford Hubbard

Thomas V Hynes

Jerry C Lasalvia

Joe Wells

Brian Pothier

Constantine Fountzoulas

Terrence M Taylor

Ii Leonard Charles Dabich

Jian Z Zhang

A transparent armor construction having a laminate structure with at least two layers. The layers are constructed of two different materials selected from the group of glass, ceramic, resin, polymeric material, and plastic and in which the at least two layers include different coefficients of thermal expansion. The layers are bonded together and a planar frame having an open central section and an outer border is then bonded to the laminate structure. The material for the planar frame is selected so that it has a coefficient of thermal expansion less than the coefficient of thermal expansion of the laminate layer to which it is bonded.

Transparent armor construction

The disclosure is directed to a transparent armor laminate having a glass, glass-ceramic or ceramic strike face layer, one or a plurality of glass, glass-ceramic ('GC'), ceramic ('C') or polymeric (&#x201c;P&#x201d;) backing layer behind the strike face layer, one or a plurality of spall catcher (&#x201c;SC&#x201d;) layers behind the backing layer(s), and a thin cover glass layer laminated to the strike face, the thin layer being the first layer to be impacted by any incoming projectile or debris. The cover glass has a thickness &#x2266;3 mm. In another embodiment the cover glass thickness is &#x2266;1 mm. Additionally, a defrosting/defogging element is laminated between the cover glass and the strike face.

Transparent armor with improved multi-hit performance by use of a thin cover glass

A dense polycrystalline aluminum oxynitride body is produced. According the method of production, aluminum oxide (alumina) powder and 26 to 40 mole % aluminum nitride powder is mixed to form a very fine powder mixture. The powder mixture is shaped and hot pressed at a moderate temperature, preferably about 1600&#xb0; C., which is below the temperature of aluminum oxynitride (AlON) formation to produce a dense intermediate body. The dense intermediate body is reacted to produce a highly dense polycrystalline aluminum oxynitride body. The dense body is particularly useful for ballistic armor.

Method for making dense polycrystalline aluminum oxynitride

A transparent aluminum oxynitride product is produced by a first heat treating step wherein a combination of AlOand AlN at a temperature within the solid-liquid phase and a second step of sintering the heat treated combination at a temperature at least 50&#xb0; C. less than the heat treating temperature. The method introduces a small fraction of liquid that aids in pore elimination and densification. In a single step, the material is shifted from the liquid/solid region into a solid AlON solution region, wherein the liquid is fully reacted with the solid AlON phase, with further sintering occurring. The procedure is sufficient to eliminate voids and other imperfections which often result in a reduction in optical clarity.

Transient liquid phase reactive sintering of aluminum oxynitride (AlON)

A ceramic nanocomposite made from silicon, oxygen and nitrogen is provided hich has a very low dielectric constant, low dielectric loss along with good strength and hardness. The ceramic nanocomposite finds use in millimeter-wave radomes and microwave radomes used on aircraft which must resist erosion from high speed impact with water, ice and dust in the atmosphere.

Sion low dielectric constant ceramic nanocomposite

Growing community of inventors

Joppa, MD, United States of America

Parimal J Patel