Light weight composite armor with structural strength

Abstract

Future fighting vehicles will require lighter, stronger and more space efficient armor for better protection, better survivability and better mobility. The invented lightweight armor component consists of armor-grade material ( 2 ), such as ceramic, encapsulated in fiber reinforced cementitious composite (FRCC) ( 1 ). The encapsulation FRCC pre-stress the armor-grade material. The resulting armor component of the present disclosure provides excellent ballistic protection against most types and sizes of Kinetic Energy (KE) threats and Chemical Energy (CE) threats. The armor component has low areal density, reduced damage area, improved multi-hit capability, flexible design and also provides high structural strength. It furthermore has the advantage, that it can be formed in virtually any shape. The present disclosure results in superior ballistic characteristics of an armor component. An object of the present disclosure is to increase penetration resistance of especially ceramic based armor, while lowering system weight.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A composite armor structure for military and civilian use for absorbing and reducing impact energy from kinetic energy threats and chemical energy threats, said composite armor structure comprising:
 A composite material comprising fiber reinforced cementitious composite material which encapsulates armor-grade material comprising ceramic, glass, glass-ceramic and sintered refractory material.   
     
     
         2 . A composite armor structure according to  claim 1  wherein said fiber reinforced cementitious composite material comprises fiber reinforced concretes, fiber reinforced mortars, very high strength concretes, hybrid fiber reinforced cementitious composites, ductile fiber reinforced cementitious composites, ultra ductile fiber reinforced cementitious composites, high performance—strain hardening cementitious composites, ultra high performance—strain hardening cementitious composites, engineered cementitious composites and high strength—high ductility concrete. 
     
     
         3 . A composite armor structure according to  claim 1  wherein said armor-grade ceramic material comprises Oxide ceramics, including alumina, zirconia, silica, aluminum silicate, magnesia, aluminum titanate and other metal oxide based materials, Non-oxide ceramics, including carbides, borides, nitrides and silicides, and Composite ceramics, including particulate reinforced ceramics, fiber-reinforced ceramics, ceramic-metal composite materials and nano-ceramics. 
     
     
         4 . A composite armor structure according to  claim 1  wherein said armor-grade material are arranged in a spacious pattern, in different shapes, sizes and thicknesses, and in different configurations and combinations. 
     
     
         5 . A composite armor structure according to  claim 1  wherein said fiber reinforced cementitious composite material are being configured to pre-stress said armor-grade material. 
     
     
         6 . A composite armor structure according to  claim 1  wherein said armor-grade material is grinded and ungrinded. 
     
     
         7 . A composite armor structure according to  claim 1  wherein said fiber reinforced cementitious composite material and said armor-grade material are fastened to each other. 
     
     
         8 . A composite armor structure according to  claim 7  wherein said fiber reinforced cementitious composite material are fastened to said armor-grade material by coating, gluing and fastener.