A STUDY OF BALLISTIC AND METALLURGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF STEEL AIRCRAFT ARMOR

Abstract

This report is a comprehensive review of the metallurgical factors pertinent to the production and testing of steel aircraft armor plate. The development of aircraft armor plate is summarized and the relative importance of types of steel aircraft armor plate is outlined. It is shown that the degree to which homogeneous steel aircraft armor resists penetration of armor piercing projectiles is dependent upon the toughness of the plate material when heat treated to an optimum hardness for the given ballistic condition. The optimum microstructure for toughness is tempered martensite. Inhomogeneities in the plate material lower the toughness. Suitable compositions for homogeneous armor are those which will quench out to full martensite on the quenching treatment used and will permit use of tempering temperatures high enough to avoid temper embrittlement.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 25, 1948
Accession Number
AD0492302

Entities

People

  • H. V. Joyce
  • J. M. Hodge

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Aircrafts
  • Airframes
  • Armor Plate
  • Chemistry
  • Embrittlement
  • Explosives
  • Fuselages
  • Hardness
  • Heat Treatment
  • High Explosives
  • High Temperature
  • Materials
  • Navy
  • Projectiles
  • Shock Resistance
  • Shock Tests
  • Transition Temperature

Fields of Study

  • Materials science

Readers

  • Materials Science (Mechanical Engineering).
  • Powder metallurgy of Titanium alloys.
  • ballistics.