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Experimental Mechanics
Published in: Experimental Mechanics 1/2013

01-01-2013

Damage Mechanisms Perspective on Superior Ballistic Performance of Spinel over Sapphire

Authors: E.J. Haney, G. Subhash

Published in: Experimental Mechanics | Issue 1/2013

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Abstract

Sapphire and magnesium spinel are two commonly used transparent armor materials. Although it is commonly believed that better mechanical properties often result in better field performance, the ballistic performance of spinel is reported to be superior to sapphire despite its inferior mechanical properties. The above discrepancy has been rationalized on the basis of mechanisms of deformation during impact loading. After reviewing the reported ballistic performance results on spinel and sapphire, we will discuss the relevant mechanical properties and their inability to explain the observed paradoxical behavior. We will then present differences in static (15 s duration) and dynamic (100 μs duration) indentation fracture characteristics and compare these observations to fracture modes witnessed during ball-on-rod impact tests. Lastly, the energy absorbed in various deformation mechanisms for each material is compared to draw a rationale for the intriguing behavior of spinel. Fracture along crystallographic planes in sapphire during ball impact allows large fragments to be ejected causing a significant loss in structural integrity and deeper projectile penetration, whereas the mixed mode fracture in spinel produces fine debris which opposes the incoming projectile and causes severe deceleration and erosion of the ball. Thus a mechanism based rationale has been provided to describe the superior performance of spinel over sapphire.
previous article Experimental Observations on Dynamic Response of Selected Transparent Armor Materials
next article Using Depth-of-Penetration Tests to Design Transparent Armor

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Metadata
Title
Damage Mechanisms Perspective on Superior Ballistic Performance of Spinel over Sapphire
Authors
E.J. Haney
G. Subhash
Publication date
01-01-2013
Publisher
Springer US
Published in
Experimental Mechanics / Issue 1/2013
Print ISSN: 0014-4851
Electronic ISSN: 1741-2765
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11340-012-9634-0

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