Alumina armor materials

The tailored properties ofliquid phase-sintered silicon carbide (LPS-SiC) allow it to be used as dewatering elements in the paper machinery, as armor plates [202] and as rings for highly stressed gas seals. It is a pricesilicon nitride materials, and outperforms both alumina and tungsten carbide materials. In addition, LPS-SiC has been proposed as a neutral matrix in ceramic matrix composites containing plutonium to burn the world s stockpiles of military plutonium in thermal or fast reactors [565]. 

The development of ceramic materials for armor since 1970 has been extensive, In addition to alumina and titanium diboride, the most widely used ceramic materials are silicon carbide, boron carbide, and aluminum nitride, as monolithic plates and shapes, which are bonded to a fibrous laminate of fiberglass or Kevlar . A typical impact sequence is shown in Fig. 16.2. On impact, the ceramic plate fractures the projectile core and absorbs a major part of the kinetic energy. The backing material absorbs the residual energy. 

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