Steel Laminated Armor Plate (SLAP)

Hy-Tek Mfg. Company Inc. (HMC) is pleased to present a proposal for the development of a Steel Laminate Armor Plate (SLAP) comprised of dissimilar metals that form a robust monolithic structure capable of being roll formed and welded. The SLAP concept uses a uniform pattern of high tolerance dovetail joints that are precision machined parallel to the flat surfaces of the adjacent metal plates. The precision machined dovetail pattern is geometrically and dimensionally identical along the top and bottom of the mating surfaces. This uniformity eliminates the formation of weak ballistic windows that can be exploited by the projectile or penetrator during kinetic energy transfer to the armor.  To create a locked fit between each dovetail joint, HMC intends to machine/broach the dovetail shape in both the top and bottom plate interface with a maximum clearance of ~0.001 in. This machined tolerance is easily achieved using current CNC machining processes available in HMC’s Sugar Grove, IL manufacturing facility. The dovetailed machined plates can then be cooled to a temperature as low as -250 ?F in a liquid nitrogen bath so that adequate material shrinkage facilitates plate bonding by means of press fitting the adjacent dovetail joints. During the return to ambient temperature conditions, the adjacently pressed dovetailed joints and plates will thermodynamically expand to form a tight metal-to-metal fit by means of dovetail joints that are as strong as the parent materials from which the laminate armor plates are made.