Ultralight ceramic armor materials based on nanostructural mechanoactivated boron carbide powder

A nanodimensional powder of doped boron carbide has been obtained by means of mechanoactivation in a planetary centrifugal mill and used to produce a nanostructural ceramic material by hot pressing at a temperature of 1900°C and a pressure of 30 MPa. Investigation of a combination of mechanical properties of the nanostructural ceramics showed its advantage over a material obtained using the traditional ceramic technology from the same (micron-sized) initial boron carbide powder. A ballistic armor structure containing the new nanostructural ceramics possesses improved protective properties, which have been confirmed by shooting tests. The introduction of a front layer of the nanostructural ceramics into a test armor structure significantly increased its bullet resistance as compared to that of an analogous structure with a ceramics manufactured using the traditional technology.