Thesis Abstracts 2001
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The Fabrication and Ballistic Performance of Pressureless Sintered Silicon Carbide Ceramic Armour Tiles
By: Capt. Charles D. St-Denis M. Eng. (Materials Engineering)
Supervisor: Dr. W.T. Thompson
Abstract
Canadian Forces personnel and vehicles are exposed to ballistic hazards during operational deployments. Additional armor can be placed on the vehicles to reduce this hazard, however, the additional weight of the armor will reduce the effect combat load of the vehicles. The task is to reduce the additional weight of the add-on armor while maximizing the ballistic protection. Silicon carbide has a superior ballistic performance in comparison to an equivalent metallic armor attached on the vehicles. This investigation aim is the fabrication of silicon carbide ceramic tiles by sintering without pressure has ballistic and economic advantages.
The inverstigation is in two parts, the fabrication of ballistic tiles using pressureless sintering, and the evaluation of the ballistic performance of these tiles in comparison to tiles presently available. The manufacturing process is to mix yttrium and aluminum oxides with silicon carbide, thereby reducing the sintering temperature required by the silicon carbide. The ballistic performance was determined by the Defence Research Establishment Valcartier (DREV), in the small caliber laboratory. The test procedure consist of firing an aggressive projectile into a ceramic tile, and determining the residual penetration in an aluminum cylinder. The depth of penetration is compared to that observed for a cylinder not protected by a ceramic tile and to the protection offfered by industrially produced tiles. Tiles of boron carbide were also produced to determine is this materail offered a more effective protection, while minimizing the weight of the tiles.
Silicon carbide tiles produced by pressureless sintering were found to be less efficient than the industrially available tiles. The presssureless sintered tiles were however, more efficient when compared to aluminum oxides tiles. Silicon carbide tiles did not exhibit any variation in ballistic performance over the oxide composition range of 8-18 percent. Surface preparation did not affect the ballistic performance.
Pressureless sintered boron carbide tiles offered an advantage over the pressureless sintered silicon carbide. However, the pressureless sintered boron carbide tiles where less efficient than the industrially produced silicon carbides tiles.
