Hard Armor Trade Space Analysis System
AssigneeThe Government of the United States of America, as represented by the Secretary of the Navy
InventorsAlex E. Moser, Nicholas D. Pierce, Cherelda V. Stephens
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A technique for determining armor weight requirements for a specific set of ballistic threats at specific stand-offs or velocities allows for the selection of armor that is not excessively heavy, thus improving mobility, comfort, and survivability.
Claims18
A method of selecting an armor system based on a threat having a given velocity, the method comprising:
- providing a database comprising (1) a listing of armor plates, each having associated therewith a mass, an area, and an energy per armor area, Ea;
- and (2) a listing of ballistic threats, each having associated therewith data sufficient to determine threat projected energy, En, presented by the threat at a provided velocity, wherein En is a kinetic energy of the threat at said velocity divided by a projected area of the threat;
- receiving an input comprising a threat and a threat velocity;
- determining a threat En of the threat at the threat velocity;
- comparing the threat En to the Ea of the armor plates to obtain a group of armor plates each having an Ea greater than or equal to the threat En;
- determining the toughness of each armor plate in the group based on the values stored in the database for the plate's mass, area, and energy per armor area;
- and then
- providing an output listing comprising armor requirements to defeat the threat at the threat velocity.
A method of selecting an armor system based on a threat having a given standoff distance, the method comprising:
- providing a database comprising (1) a listing of armor plates, each having associated therewith a mass, an area, and an energy per armor area Ea;
- and (2) a listing of ballistic threats, each having associated therewith ballistics information sufficient to determine a threat velocity at a given standoff distance and data sufficient to determine threat projected energy, En, presented by the threat at a given velocity, wherein En is a kinetic energy of the threat divided by a projected area of the threat;
- receiving an input comprising a threat and a standoff distance;
- determining a threat velocity from the standoff distance;
- determining a threat En of the threat at the threat velocity;
- comparing the threat En to the Ea of the armor plates to obtain a group of armor plates each having an Ea greater than the threat En;
- determining the toughness of each armor plate in the group based on the values stored in the database for the plate's mass, area, and energy per armor area;
- and then
- providing an output listing comprising armor requirements to defeat the threat at the standoff distance.
A method of selecting an armor system based on a threat at muzzle velocity, the method comprising:
- providing a database comprising (1) a listing of armor plates, each having associated therewith a mass, an area, and an energy per armor area, Ea;
- and (2) a listing of ballistic threats, each having associated therewith data sufficient to determine threat projected energy, En, at a muzzle velocity of the threat;
- receiving an input comprising a threat;
- determining a threat En of the threat at the threat muzzle velocity;
- comparing the threat En to the Ea of the armor plates to obtain a group of armor plates each having an Ea greater than the threat En;
- determining the toughness of each armor plate in the group based on values stored in the database for the plate's mass, area, and an energy per armor area;
- and then
- providing an output listing comprising the armor plate in the group having the greatest toughness.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.