Armor panel

Abstract

An armor panel for protection from a projectile having a movement spinning axis. The panel comprises armor strips attached to each other, a front face for facing the projectile, and a rear face for facing away from the front face. The strips are arranged so that at least a majority thereof is oriented transversely to at least the front face. The strips are connected to each other so that a static friction force Fs 1 needs to be applied to at least partially disconnect them, and/or material from which at least some strips are made is such that a static friction force Fs 2 needs to be applied to at least partially disconnect a portion thereof. At least during penetration of the projectile into the panel, a dynamic friction force between the projectile and the strips exceeds, under the respective condition, at least one of the Fs 1 and Fs 2.

1 - 22 . (canceled) 
     
     
         23 . An armor panel configured for protecting a body from an incoming projectile having a movement axis and configured for spinning about the movement axis, the armor panel comprising:
 a front face configured for facing the incoming projectile;   a rear face facing away from the front face;   a plurality of armor strips attached to each other, the plurality of armor strips made of a ballistic fabric, the plurality of armor strips are arranged within the armor panel so that:
 at least a majority of the plurality of armor strips are oriented substantially transversely to at least the front face; 
 each of a majority of the plurality of armor strips is in surface contact with at least one neighboring armor strip of the plurality of armor strips; and 
 a surface connection between neighboring armor strips of the plurality of armor strips and the ballistic fabric from which the plurality of armor strips are made being such that both a static friction force Fs 1  required in order to at least partially disconnect two neighboring armor strips of the plurality of armor strips and a static friction force Fs 2  required in order to at least partially disconnect an armor strip of the plurality of armor strips from a remainder thereof is lower than a dynamic friction force generated between the incoming projectile and the armor panel during penetration of the former into the latter. 
   
     
     
         24 . The armor panel according to  claim 23 , wherein a material from which the plurality of armor strips is made has a tensile strength that is at least 1 GPa. 
     
     
         25 . The armor panel according to  claim 24 , wherein the material comprises a fibrous material including fibers and the Fs 2  is a force required to separate the fibers. 
     
     
         26 . The armor panel according to  claim 25 , wherein, due to the fibrous nature of the plurality of armor strips, during penetration of the incoming projectile into the armor panel, the fibers are configured for adhering to the incoming projectile, and detach from neighboring fibers of the fibers and become knotted together. 
     
     
         27 . The armor panel according to  claim 25 , wherein the fibrous material comprises at least one of Kevlar®, Dynema®, or Aramid. 
     
     
         28 . The armor panel according to  claim 25 , wherein the material comprises nano-fibers. 
     
     
         29 . The armor panel according to  claim 28 , wherein the nano-fibers comprise at least one of TiS2, WS2, or Carbon nano-tubes (CNT). 
     
     
         30 . The armor panel according to  claim 29 , wherein the CNT fiber comprises a single-wall CNT, double-wall CNT, a multi-wall CNT, or combinations thereof 
     
     
         31 . The armor panel according to  claim 23 , wherein the plurality of armor strips are attached to each other using a matrix material. 
     
     
         32 . The armor panel according to  claim 31 , wherein the matrix material comprises at least one of epoxy, or a modified epoxy and a resin. 
     
     
         33 . The armor panel according to  claim 31 , wherein the matrix material includes nano-particles. 
     
     
         34 . The armor panel according to  claim 23 , wherein the plurality of armor strips are attached to each other by stitching. 
     
     
         35 . The armor panel according to  claim 23 , wherein the plurality of armor strips are attached to each other by an electrostatic force. 
     
     
         36 . The armor panel according to  claim 23 , wherein the armor panel is free of any ceramic and/or metal particles/layers. 
     
     
         37 . The armor panel according to  claim 23 , wherein a majority of the plurality of armor strips each has a strip surface bound by at least:
 a face rim lying on the front face and defining a first dimension of the armor panel; and   a side rim extending between the front face and the rear face of the panel and defining a second dimension substantially perpendicular to the front face.   
     
     
         38 . The armor panel according to  claim 37 , wherein each of the plurality of armor strips has a thickness t measured in a direction substantially perpendicular to the strip surface, such that a third dimension of the armor panel substantially perpendicular to the first and second dimensions, is defined by the thickness t and a number of the plurality of armor strips. 
     
     
         39 . The armor panel according to  claim 38 , wherein, in a cross-section taken along a plane substantially perpendicular to the front face and the rear face of the armor panel, and extending along the third dimension of the armor panel, the side rims are seen in real-length projection on the plane. 
     
     
         40 . The armor panel according to  claim 23 , wherein the plurality of armor strips are arranged within the armor panel at a slanted orientation so that the side rims are at a slanting angle other than 0° and other than 90° with respect to the front face. 
     
     
         41 . The armor panel according to  claim 40 , wherein the slanting angle is up to about 80°. 
     
     
         42 . The armor panel according to  claim 23 , wherein the plurality of armor strips are flexible and/or pliable at least before manufacture of the armor panel. 
     
     
         43 . A method for producing an armor panel, comprising:
 providing a plurality of armor strips, each of the plurality of armor strips having a strip surface bound by at least:
 a face rim of length L defining a first dimension of the armor panel; and 
 a side rim extending transverse to the face rim defining a second dimension D of the armor panel substantially perpendicular to the first dimension; 
   wherein each of the plurality of armor strips has a thickness t measured in a direction substantially perpendicular to the strip surface, and defining a third dimension; and   attaching the plurality of armor strips to each other such that at least a majority of face rims of the plurality of armor strips are aligned with one another to form a front face of the armor panel.   
     
     
         44 . The method according to  claim 43 , wherein the front face is constituted by the aligned face rims of the armor strips and the following dimensions:
 a width W, measured along the first dimension, which is about equal to the length L of the face rim;   a thickness M, measured along the second dimension, which is about equal to the length D of the side rim; and   a height H, measured along the third dimension, in a direction substantially perpendicular to the width W, which is about equal to a combined thickness T of the thicknesses t of the armor strips.