Enhanced performance of high-curvature ballistic composites.

Offentlig prosjektsammendrag

Traditional manufacturing methods for highly curved ballistic composites normally apply a non-uniform (one-directional) pressure across the surface of the product. This will then result in reduced ballistic properties in the areas of lower pressure, i.e. where the applied force gets close to parallel to the composite material being pressed. A way to overcome the lower ballistic properties can be to add extra material in these regions in order to increase the thickness, and thereby the pressure from the two-sided tools, but this will also add weight to the product. Our manufacturing process will add an isostatic pressure across the whole surface and thus avoid these issues. The pressure will also be very high, about 4 to 8 times higher than traditional methods. Initial research indicates that UHMWPE (Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene) will show increased ballistic performance, and possibly better mechanical properties, with increased processing pressure compared to typical manufacturing processes. We intend to exploit this in order to get products with a higher ballistic performance at the same weight or lower weight with the same ballistic performance, compared to competitors. Alternatively we can use lower grade materials to achieve the same weight and performance as existing products.