Penetration Resistance of B4C-CaB6 Based Light-weight Armor Materials

This paper investigates resistance to hypervelocity penetration of one new ceramic composite of B4C-CaB6 system with significantly improved strength characteristics and its correlation to hardness measurements and structure state. Tendency to breakage and fragmentation of CaB6 in a contact loading zone under indenter facilitates formation of a core from fractured and powdered material, the densification of which during penetration leads to high penetration work and high resistance against penetration. Penetration resistance for each from 3 selected ceramic compositions and different B4C ceramic with porosity up to 30% were calculated and used for a direct analysis of influence of the basic properties of a composite on the penetration resistance. Different components of penetration resistance were estimated and compared for compositions with different mechanical properties and structure. The analysis of influence of free carbon in B4C-CaB6 system on formation of its properties was performed in relation to its hardness and penetration resistance. Sintered ceramic has extremely high macrohardness (HVP=200N, 300N ~ 25 GPa) and, correspondingly, resistance to hypervelocity penetration, and is promising for application as an armour material.