DEVELOPMENT OF UNIVERSAL HIGH-STRENGTH MAGNESIUM ALUMINOSILICATE GLASS-CERAMIC MATERIALS FOR ARMOR PROTECTION

The necessity of creating innovative protective structures for armoring machinery and equipment is analyzed. A comparative analysis of high-strength materials used for local and individual body armor has been carried out.  The relevance of the development of domestic universal armored materials that combine high strength properties and radio transparency based on lightweight technological magnesium aluminosilicate glass-ceramic materials with high performance properties at the level of world analogues has been determined.  Were formulated the purpose and tasks of the work, which consist in: analysis of the current state of development of glass-ceramic materials for armor protection; development of magnesium-aluminosilicate glass-ceramic materials with high armor resistance, impact resistance and radio transparency; investigation of the operational properties of the developed glass-ceramic materials and their armor resistance; assessment of the competitiveness of the developed glass-ceramic materials. A set of requirements for a glass matrix for obtaining protective glass-ceramic materials has been formulated. Compositions and technological parameters for the production of glass-ceramic materials under the conditions of two-stage low-temperature heat treatment have been developed. The study of the electrical properties of experimental glass-ceramic materials made it possible to establish the possibility of effective functioning of on-board wireless communication systems when using the developed materials as elements of armor protection. It was found that the developed glass-ceramic materials are characterized by high operational properties (KCU = 5.8 kJ/m2; HV = 10.4 GPa; K1C = 8.5 MPa∙m1/2) and armor resistance STANAG 4569 (level 2). The competitiveness of the developed glass-ceramic materials based on mullite is analyzed. It has been established that a significant increase in fracture toughness and a decrease in the density of the developed material when comparing properties with a similar armor element (corundum-based plate) will significantly reduce the weight of the armor elements by ≈1.4 times and its cost by five times, while maintaining its protective properties.