DESIGN OF A COMPOSITE ARMOR AND INVESTIGATION OF ITS BALLISTIC RESISTANCE

Abstract

This study aimed to design a laminated composite armor and to examine its ballistic resistance. In the designed composite armor structure, a 5 mm thick AISI 304 stainless steel plate was used as a bullet impact and back support surface. A 6 mm thick kevlar composite plate was also used as an interlayer to absorb the impact shock energy of the bullet. In addition, the boriding process was applied to the steel plates to increase the bullet's deformation by increasing the hardness. Hence, the surface hardness of the AISI 304 plate has been increased approximately 7 times by the boronizing process. It has been observed that this process significantly affected bullet deformation. Within the scope of the study, various armor designs and the production of prototypes that could provide complete ballistic protection for vehicle armor were carried out, and hence their ballistic performances were evaluated. Ballistic tests were performed on a single-shot basis from a distance of 30 m with a 7.62 mm lead core G3 rifle with a bullet velocity of approximately 800 m/s. It has been observed that a single layer of non-boronized steel (A) and boronized steel (B) could not provide sufficient ballistic resistance. In addition, the ballistic limit conditions with full penetration could be provided using the A+K+A laminated row ZM-3 armor model with a single layer of kevlar plate between the boron-free steel front and back support layer. Finally, it has been determined that the B+K+K+B laminated sequential armor model specified with ZM-4 completely stopped the G3 bullet. From this, it was concluded that the boriding process increased the bullet’s deformation. The kevlar plate could also be used in such armor systems as a laminate to absorb the bullet’s kinetic energy. Finally, full ballistic protection was achieved with double kevlar plates between the boronized steel front and back support layers.Bu çalışmada lamine kompozit zırh tasarımı ve balistik direncinin incelenmesi amaçlanmıştır. Kompozit zırh yapısında mermi karşılama ve arka destek yüzeyi olarak 5 mm kalınlığında AISI 304 paslanmaz çelik plaka, mermi darbe şok enerjisini absorbe etmek amacıyla ara katman olarak 6 mm kalınlığında kevlar kompozit levha kullanılmıştır. Ayrıca sertlik artışı sağlamak suretiyle mermi deformasyonunu artırmak için çelik plakalara borlama işlemi de uygulanmıştır. Çalışma kapsamında araç zırhı için tam balistik koruma sağlayabilecek yeni bir zırh tasarımı ve prototip üretimi gerçekleştirilmiş ve balistik performansı değerlendirilmiştir. Balistik testler 7.62 mm kalibreli kurşun çekirdekli ve yaklaşık 800 m/s mermi hızına sahip G3 piyade tüfeği ile 30 m mesafeden ve tek atış esasına göre gerçekleştirilmiştir. Son olarak borlanmış çelik ön ve arka destek katmanları arasında bulunan çift kevlar plakalar ile tam balistik koruma sağlanmıştır.