The effect of the thickness of the adhesive layer on the ballistic limit of ceramic/metal armours. An experimental and numerical study

In this work, a study has been made of the effect of the adhesive layer thickness on the efficiency of alumina/aluminium armours. Full-scale tests were made shooting armour piercing projectile against panels thick enough to arrest the projectile and also close to the ballistic limit. The adhesive layer, of different thickness, was of the toughened epoxy resin. The fire tests revealed the influence of thickness on the response of the lightweight protection. Numerical simulations were performed to analyse the experimental results. The anaysis showed an optimum adhesive layer thickness for the best performance of the lightweight protection considered.