Is Boron Carbide the Key to Shattering Bullets in Armor Design?

AI Thread Summary
Boron carbide is hypothesized to shatter bullets due to its superior hardness compared to copper. There is debate about its feasibility in conventional armor designs, primarily due to cost concerns. While boron carbide body armor has existed for decades, the introduction of foam technology is a newer development. It is noted that boron carbide may only withstand a single impact before fracturing, limiting its effectiveness. The discussion also explores potential methods for integrating boron carbide with other materials, such as carbon fiber, to enhance performance.
chemisthypnos
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Does anyone know how this works? I hypothesize that the reason that the bullet shatters is that boron carbide is much harder than the copper of the bullet. Does anyone think that this may be made into a conventional armor design as some people are saying or is boron carbide too expensive for use in this application?

Link: http://www.slate.com/articles/video...rmor_can_shatter_bullet_on_contact_video.html
 
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chemisthypnos said:
Does anyone know how this works? I hypothesize that the reason that the bullet shatters is that boron carbide is much harder than the copper of the bullet. Does anyone think that this may be made into a conventional armor design as some people are saying or is boron carbide too expensive for use in this application?
The cost of the components could be utterly trivial compared to the cost of the fabrication of the composite. I have no idea if that's the case but my point is that you are not looking at the big picture.
 
Boron carbide body armor has been around for decades. Carborundum made it in their Niagara Falls plant when i visited there in the 1960's.
Back then they blew it into fiber with a steam jet then made it into cloth using secondhand textile manufacturing equipment.

The foam is new to me but it seems a logical progression.

See what these folks have to say ?
http://technical-ceramics.3mdeutschland.de/en/products/3m-ballistic-ceramics.html
 
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Fascinating. I think that I may have found why it may not be used in a number of applications. It seems to be good for only the first hit, but subsequent hits will cause the material to fracture. https://www.arl.army.mil/www/default.cfm?article=3166
 
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I think you can laminate up Boron fibre much the same as Carbon, Aramid or glass fibre.
 
CWatters said:
Boron fibre
You can certainly do this with boron nitride. Boron carbide seems less likely, but you could probably impregnate carbon fiber with boron carbide (whether that would get you the result you want is a different story).
 

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