Polymer and block copolymer, ceramic composite armor system

Abstract

Modern military operations, technology-driven war tactics and techniques, and availability of newly developed, current and surplus military ammunition necessitate the development of advanced ballistic protection for body armor, vehicle, vessel and aircraft systems that are damage-resistant, flexible, lightweight, capable of defeating multiple threats, while providing substantial energy absorbing capacity. A number of studies related to new technology concepts and designs of body armor materials (including those derived from or inspired by nature) have been conducted in the last decade to forge an attempt at meeting such demands. Ballistic textiles, ceramics, and laminated composites are among the leading materials used in modern body armor designs, and nano-particle and natural fiber filled composites are candidate materials for new-generation armor systems. Properties and ballistic resistance mechanisms of such materials have been extensively investigated, however, polymeric improvements have had limited scope and ceramic/polymer structured architectures have not been explored. The combination of these materials in an armor composite system with the high impact properties of ceramics and the extreme viscoelastic properties of polymers, would out-perform any of today's current lightweight rigidized polymeric systems, while maintaining superior lightweight ballistic and fragmentation performance capabilities as compared to the latest state-of-the-art lightweight ceramic glass and/or textile resin composite systems.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An apparatus for use in an armor system comprising:
 a plurality of discs or tiles, each of the plurality of discs or tiles having a strike face and a non-strike face connected by lateral sides; and   a polymeric body wrap coupled to the non-strike face of each of the plurality of discs or tiles.   
     
     
         2 . The apparatus of  claim 1  wherein each of the plurality of discs or tiles comprise a ceramic material. 
     
     
         3 . The apparatus of  claim 1  wherein each of the plurality of discs or tiles comprise a polymeric material. 
     
     
         4 . The apparatus of  claim 1  wherein each of the plurality of discs or tiles comprise a ceramic and a polymer composite material. 
     
     
         5 . The apparatus of  claim 1  wherein each of the plurality of discs are discus shaped discs. 
     
     
         6 . The apparatus of  claim 1  wherein at least one of the strike face or the non-strike face is a non-planar surface. 
     
     
         7 . The apparatus of  claim 1  wherein at least one face of the plurality of discs or tiles is planar. 
     
     
         8 . The apparatus of  claim 1  further comprising:
 a glass fiber wrap coupled to the strike face of each of the discs or tiles. 
 
     
     
         9 . The apparatus of  claim 7  wherein the polymeric body wrap is coupled to only the non-strike face and the lateral sides of each of the discs or tiles and the glass fiber wrap is coupled to only the strike face. 
     
     
         10 . The apparatus of  claim 7  wherein the glass fiber wrap completely encases the discs or tiles and the polymeric body wrap is wrapped only around portions of the glass fiber wrap covering the non-strike face and the lateral sides. 
     
     
         11 . The apparatus of  claim 7  wherein the glass fiber wrap completely encases the discs or tiles and the polymeric body wrap completely encases the glass fiber wrap. 
     
     
         12 . The apparatus of  claim 1  further comprising:
 a titanium encasement wrap coupled to the polymeric containment wrap. 
 
     
     
         13 . The apparatus of  claim 2  wherein the ceramic material is selected from the group consisting of aluminum oxide, silicon carbide, silicon nitride, boron carbide and titanium diboride. 
     
     
         14 . The apparatus of  claim 1  wherein the polymeric body wrap is a matrix-reinforced polymeric composite material. 
     
     
         15 . An apparatus for use in an armor system comprising:
 a plurality of discs or tiles comprising a polymer composite material; and   a containment wrap coupled to each of the plurality of discs or tiles.   
     
     
         16 . The apparatus of  claim 15  wherein the polymer composite material is a ceramic and polymer bonded material. 
     
     
         17 . The apparatus of  claim 15  wherein the containment wrap comprises a titanium material completely encasing each of the plurality of discs or tiles. 
     
     
         18 . A body armor comprising:
 a plurality of discs or tiles;   a plurality of polymeric body wraps, each wrap at least partially encasing one of the discs or tiles; and   a substrate coupled to the encased discs or tiles to retain the discs or tiles in a fixed pattern.   
     
     
         19 . The apparatus of  claim 18  wherein each of the plurality of discs or tiles comprise a ceramic material. 
     
     
         20 . The apparatus of  claim 18  wherein each of the plurality of discs or tiles comprise a polymeric material. 
     
     
         21 . The apparatus of  claim 18  wherein each of the plurality of discs or tiles comprise a ceramic and a polymer composite material. 
     
     
         22 . The apparatus of  claim 18  wherein each of the plurality of discs are discus shaped discs. 
     
     
         23 . The apparatus of  claim 18  wherein at least one face of the discs or tiles is a non-planar surface. 
     
     
         24 . The apparatus of  claim 18  wherein at least one face of the plurality of discs or tiles is planar. 
     
     
         25 . The apparatus of  claim 18  further comprising:
 a glass fiber wrap coupled to a face of each of the discs or tiles. 
 
     
     
         26 . The apparatus of  claim 25  wherein the polymeric body wrap is coupled to only a non-strike face and lateral sides of each of the discs or tiles and the glass fiber wrap is coupled to only a strike face. 
     
     
         27 . The apparatus of  claim 25  wherein the glass fiber wrap completely encases the discs or tiles and the polymeric body wrap is wrapped only around portions of the glass fiber wrap covering a non-strike face and lateral sides of the discs or tiles. 
     
     
         28 . The apparatus of  claim 25  wherein the glass fiber wrap completely encases the discs or tiles and the polymeric body wrap completely encases the glass fiber wrap. 
     
     
         29 . The apparatus of  claim 18  further comprising:
 a titanium encasement wrap coupled to the polymeric containment wrap. 
 
     
     
         30 . The apparatus of  claim 19  wherein the ceramic material is selected from the group consisting of aluminum oxide, silicon carbide, silicon nitride, boron carbide and titanium diboride. 
     
     
         31 . The apparatus of  claim 18  wherein the polymeric body wrap is a matrix-reinforced polymeric composite material. 
     
     
         32 . The apparatus of  claim 18  wherein the fixed pattern is an imbricated pattern. 
     
     
         33 . The apparatus of  claim 18  wherein the fixed pattern is a mosaic pattern in which the discs or tiles are laid out in a side-by-side pattern. 
     
     
         34 . A method of making a body armor comprising:
 providing a plurality of discs or tiles, wherein each of the discs or tiles are either encased within a polymeric containment wrap or formed by a polymeric material;   laying out the plurality of discs or tiles in a fixed pattern on a substrate; and   adhering the substrate to a first side of the discs or tiles.   
     
     
         35 . The method of  claim 34  wherein the fixed pattern is an imbricated pattern comprising overlapping each disc or tile upon a successive disc or tile so that each disc or tile tilts from a horizontal plane defined by the substrate. 
     
     
         36 . The method of  claim 34  wherein the fixed pattern is a mosaic pattern comprising each disc or tile arranged in a side by side configuration. 
     
     
         37 . An apparatus for use in an armor system comprising:
 a plurality of discs or tiles, each of the plurality of discs or tiles having a strike face and a non-strike face connected by lateral sides; and   a body wrap coupled to the non-strike face of each of the plurality of discs or tiles.   
     
     
         38 . The apparatus of  claim 37  wherein the plurality of discs or tiles comprise one of a functionally graded material (FGM) and polymeric construction, cermet and polymeric construction, encapsulated ceramic-polymeric construction, encapsulated ceramic-polymeric-metal construction, encapsulated polymeric construction, solid polymeric composite, a solid polymeric ceramic induced constituent composite, a nano-ceramic or a nano-composite with matrices and filler materials. 
     
     
         39 . The apparatus of  claim 37  wherein the body wrap comprises a textile wrap material selected from the group consisting of aramids, para-aramids, carbon fiber, glass fiber, polyethylene fabrics carbon fibers, woven stainless steel textile, woven non-magnetic nitinol textile, E-Glass, S2 glass, and nano-infused aramid.