Polyurethane elastomers in armour applications
conference paper
The use of elastomers in ballistic protection products (armour) is limited to low threat levels and transparent armour solution components. Often armor is considered a parasitic mass that increases with increasing threat levels. Therefore, low weight solutions are welcomed and bulk polymers, especially visco-elastic elastomers, could play a role soon. Some potential of these materials has been demonstrated in earlier work by TNO, as well as other R&D institutes active in armor development. Full use can be made of the strain rate stiffening and strengthening effects after optimization of the (high strain rate) mechanical properties and an expansion of the temperature range in which they perform to the T-range in which armour is used. Near the glass transition temperature (range) damping peaks, and this visco-elastic response generates an additional energy dump, in which mechanical energy is directly converted into heat, that can be applied (amongst others) for ballistic protection applications. Some routes to achieve optimized mechanical properties of elastomers for armour applications are suggested, but this is not a task for a laboratory for ballistic research.
TNO Identifier
445378
Source title
UTECH Europe 2012, International Exhibition and Conference for the Global Polyurethanes Industry, 17-19 April 2012
Files
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