Non-oxide ceramics in ballistic protection

Non-oxide ceramics, particularly silicon carbide and boron carbide, play an important role within the group of ballistic protective ceramics because they have excellent ballistic strength at low specific weight. Today silicon carbide is widely used for personal protection products (bullet proof vests) and for the armoring of light vehicles. Boron carbide is primarily used for the armoring of helicopters. The ballistic strength or the protection/weight ratio as well as the multihit capability can be adjusted and optimized by microstructural modifications (HP-SiC, LPS-SiC), composites (B₄C-SiC, SiC-TiC), and specific segmentation. Because of the large amounts of ballistic ceramics, process optimizations are essential for the cost-efficient manufacturing of protective ceramics.

 

Products and services offered

 

• Modifications of non-oxide ceramics for optimal ballistic protection
  
• Prototype manufacturing for ballistic tests
  
• Development of specific segmentations

 

Technical equipment

 

• Complete manufacturing technology for protective plates and segmentations

 

Examples and references

 

• LPS-SiC plates for the armoring of vehicles
  
• B₄C-SiC and TiC-SiC mixed ceramics
  
• Innovative segmentations for improved multihit capability