Inventors:
Clinton S. Winchester - Rockville MD, US
Philip J. Dudt - Rockville MD, US
Hampton M. DeJarnette - Silver Spring MD, US
Assignee:
The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy - Washington DC
International Classification:
F41H 5/00
F41H 11/00
Abstract:
According to typical inventive practice, an armor structure includes n≧1 highly-rate-sensitive elastomeric layers and n+1≧2 metallic layers, alternately configured. Each metallic layer is electrically connected to a power supply that includes, e. g. , battery(ies) and/or supercapacitor(s). Each adjacent pair of metallic layers sandwiches a highly-rate-sensitive elastomeric layer and forms, with the power supply, an uncompleted electrical circuit. A high-velocity projectile that penetratively encroaches upon a highly-rate-sensitive elastomeric layer is subjected to electrical current by virtue of completion of the uncompleted circuit that includes the two sandwiching metallic layers. The circuit is completed by physical (and hence, electrical) contact, bridging the two sandwiching metallic layers, of the projectile and/or its plasma sheath (which at least partially surrounds the projectile's outside surface due to friction between the projectile and the highly-rate-sensitive elastomeric layer). The highly-rate-sensitive elastomeric layer's projectile-hindering mechanical influence temporally lengthens the projectile-hindering electrical influence.