Armor: Metallurgical Examination of Cast Gun Shield Armor Four to Six Inches in Thickness
Abstract:
The object is to correlate the metallurgical and ballistic characteristics of 4 to 6 inch thick cast armor in order to determine the factors necessary to the production of successful cast armor of this thickness range. Ballistic failure of 4-6 in. thick cast armor is associated with the presence of undesirable high temperature transformation products resulting from the use of steel of insufficient hardenability to completely quench harden through the thickness of the section. A good correlation exists between the Izod or Charpy impact value and allistic performance, poor ballistic performance being associated with low impact strength. It is believed that metallurgical factors found responsible for poor ballistic properties of cast armor up to 2 in. thickness apply equally as well as to cast armor up to 6 in. thickness.