Physical protection: interdependence between hard armour and soft armour

The aim of this research work was to study the interdependence between hard armour and soft armour systems by fabricating different armour styles and investigating their ballistic performance. A range of armour styles was manufactured – identified as Basic Armour (BA), Optimum Armour (OP) and Standalone Armour (SA) using different batches of RSSC ceramic tiles with varying thicknesses (4 mm, 6 mm and 8 mm). The ballistic testing was conducted using single shot AK-47 ammunition, fired with a wide range of velocities, to understand the interdependence between hard and soft armours.The research work included improving the fabrication techniques used to clad the ceramic tiles for the existing armour systems and examining alternative design methodologies to reduce the Back Face Signature (BFS). One method was to apply tension on the cladding fabric covering the rear face of the ceramic tile. There were several important parameters that were considered, which included reduction in BFS value, weight reduction and enhanced flexibility of manufacture. The research work undertaken in this study comprised of two sections - firstly, mechanical testing, and secondly, ballistic tests. Mechanical testing consisted of investigating the physical characteristics of Kevlar® XP™, a non-crimp fabric from DuPont, by varying its orientation (discussed in detail in Chapter 3). Three series of three ballistic performance tests (Trial #1, Trial #2 and Trial #3) were conducted using Reaction-Sintered Silicon Carbide (RSSC) ceramic tiles of varying thickness as an initial strike face backed by a combination of laminated and/or loose Kevlar® XP™ backing materials (discussed in detail in Chapters 4—6). It has been shown that by applying tension (in one direction only) to the Kevlar® cladding fabric across the rear face of the RSSC tiles, a reduction of 2.9 mm in the BFS values was observed. Evaluation and comparisons were also conducted between clad and unclad armour styles to understand the effects of cladding (more information in Chapters 6—7). However, the results showed that there was little difference in the BFS values observed between the clad and unclad armour styles. The ballistic tests confirmed that clad RSSC tiles do not fully disintegrate on the first impact when compared to unclad RSSC tiles.