Smart Armor Conceptual Design
1992
Logan, K. V. | Atluri, S. N. | Hanagud, S. V. | Ohlinger, W. L. | Villalobos, G. R.
This Final Report is a summary of an eight months effort to determine the feasibility of concepts to design a responsive, resilient armor. Unique materials, armor systems and applications of new technologies to smart armors capable of enhanced ballistic protection and self-healing have been conceptualized and studied to establish feasibility. The promise for such concepts appears excellent, but much work remains to establish the optimum designs and develop them into usable armor systems. The concepts explored range from passive systems in which unique (to armor) materials properties, such as solid-liquid phase transformations, would be used to maximize energy dissipation; to active concepts, in which micromotors would be used to modify the stress distribution in a favorable fashion, leading to enhanced projectile defeat capability; to concepts in which the armor material would assess the level of damage inflicted by a ballistic impact, and would then heal that damage to provide at least a minimal level of protection against additional attack. Additional concepts of sensing and actuation are explored and unique applications of these traditional smart material concepts to armor are conceptualized. Modeling of ballistic impact phenomena has been performed using the Pisces program, and limited results are presented indicating the worth of modifying the interaction between stress waves and material surfaces. This is a critical capability in the context of further work, which will use such modelling extensively to investigate such approaches prior to actual experimentation.
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