Affordable High Performance Composite Armor Encapsulation Technology

Foster-Miller will demonstrate an innovative method to improve ballistic performance of ceramic armor tiles via its encapsulation with a high strength metal matrix (MMC) composite material. On account of thermal expansion and moduli differential betweenthe MMC encapsulant and the ceramic armor tile, coupled with our ability to tailor an overall composite armor architecture, a substantial predetermined residual stresses will be generated in the ceramic tile. These residual stresses are expected toimprove ballistic performance and damage tolerance of the ceramic tile. Foster-Miller's innovative ceramic materials encapsulation material/fabrication concept is enabled by the proven attributes of our MMC technology: proprietary composite material,flexible and inexpensive one-step fabrication process, which allow fabrication of the large flat and nonplanar armor components to near net shape. Foster-Miller ceramic armor encapsulation concept enables a flexible, affordable, and scalable fabrication ofhigh performance composite armor materials for both military and commercial platforms. Our Phase I team includes a major military ground platforms developer, high performance ceramics materials suppliers, and large and complex ceramic and compositecomponents manufacturing partners to facilitate the proposed material concept and fabrication process a scale-up and industrial implementation. (P-010791) In addition to a wide range of military ballistic and structural applications, these material and fabrication technology are applicable to numerous commercial and industrial applications where simple and affordable local reinforcement of variousstructural and application-specific components will lead to their cost effective performance improvements.