Anti-terror lightweight armor plates and a method of producing same

Abstract

A lightweight armor plate having a contiguous ceramic layer that absorbs and disperses energy from a projectile. Therefore, the ceramic layer is generally considered to be the front of armor plate. The ceramic plate receives the impact of the projectile, such as but not limited to, bullets and shrapnel. In the case of bullets, for example, the tip of the bullet is deformed and the pressure load is reduced by contact with the ceramic plate. Plate further includes a hardened metal layer situated behind, and fixedly attached to, contiguous ceramic layer and designed and constructed to prevent penetration by projectile. The high plastic elasticity of this hardened metal layer completely absorbs the rest of the kinetic energy of the bullet through deformation and heat. Attachment of ceramic layer and hardened metal layer is preferably by use of an adhesive.

1 . A lightweight armor plate, the plate comprising:
 (a) a single contiguous ceramic layer; and   (b) a single hardened metal layer fixedly attached to said ceramic layer, and said single hardened metal layer is an alloy that contains at least one material selected from the group consisting of aluminum, magnesium, silicon, titanium, copper, manganese, zinc and chromium.   
     
     
         2 . The lightweight armor plate of  claim 1 , wherein said alloy is a heat-treated alloy. 
     
     
         3 . The lightweight armor plate of  claim 1 , wherein said hardened metal layer includes at least seventy percent aluminum by weight and further includes at least one element selected from the group consisting of magnesium, silicon, titanium, copper, manganese, chromium, zinc, beryllium, tungsten and molybdenum. 
     
     
         4 . The lightweight armor plate of  claim 1 , wherein said hardened metal layer is produced by heating said alloy to a temperature in excess of 540 degrees centigrade, followed by cooling said alloy to less than sixty degrees centigrade by immersion in a liquid bath and thereafter precipitation hardening said alloy by heating to a temperature between 100 and 170 degrees centigrade. 
     
     
         5 . The lightweight armor plate of  claim 1 , wherein said contiguous ceramic layer includes primarily at least one material selected from the group consisting of Alumina (Al 2 O 3 ) and Magnesia (MgO). 
     
     
         6 . A method for producing a hardened metal plate for use in an armor plate, the method comprising the steps of:
 (a) heating an aluminum alloy to a temperature in excess of 540 degrees centigrade;   (b) immersing said aluminum alloy in a liquid bath, thereby cooling to less than 60 degrees centigrade; and   (c) precipitation hardening by second heating said aluminum alloy to a temperature between 150 and 170 degrees centigrade.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein said first heating is for a period of between 2 and 18 hours. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 6 , further including the step of waiting at least 24 hours after said immersing and thereafter performing said precipitation hardening. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein said cooling is to a temperature between 20 and 30 degrees centigrade. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein said second heating is to a temperature of between 155 and 165 degrees centigrade.