Materials Science and Engineering Commons^™

Integration Of Hadfield Steel Into Modern Body Armor, Jason T. Fridlund

ME 4133/6133 Mechanical Metallurgy

The increased lethality of recently fielded projectiles mandates a proportional escalation in armor performance. Recent advancements in ceramic technologies have allowed designers to incorporate harder but more brittle materials into hard armor designs to defeat yet more capable penetrating projectiles. Ceramics suffer from the feature of shattering, however, even when impacted by threats below their design parameters. While this shattering mechanism is used effectively to dissipate energy from high-energy rifle projectiles, it is wasted on low-energy projectiles, and can result in easily damaged lifesaving gear, both of which are undesirable in combat. In contrast, steel body armor has been used …