Experimental damage analysis of Al/SiC functionally graded sandwich plates under ballistic impact

In this study, the ballistic performance of functionally graded sandwich plates (FGSPs) composed of aluminum and silicon carbide constituents were experimentally investigated. The ballistic tests of FGSPs manufactured with powder stacking hot pressing method were performed using 9 mm Parabellum projectiles. The four types of plates, Al6061, metal-rich composition (n=0.1), linear composition (n=1), and ceramic composition (n=10), were produced and compared. The ballistic test results showed that none of specimen plates experienced a complete penetration, and the specimens having linear composition exhibited the best ballistic performance. The damage and deformation investigation of each specimen revealed that the through thickness composition variation affected considerably the ballistic performance.