Use of Boron Compounds in Lightweight Armor

Abstract

Armor design to date has been achieved primarily with ballistic tests on a large variety of materials. A ballistic test consists of experiment ally determining the maximum projectile velocity a given target can withstand without penetration. Correlating ballistic behavior and mechanical properties of materials has led to an empirical understanding of how armor functions. However, correlations have not been entirely satisfactory in determining which material properties are important. Ballistic tests have not yielded sufficient armor design information because there is more than one mechanism operating at the same time in the defeat of penetration. The separate effects cannot be readily sorted out by the normal ballistic test approach.