January 24, 2020
Current personal protection systems used by US forces incorporate monolithic ceramic plates. The application of monolithic ceramic plates as an armor system has issues related to fracture from mishandling, limited multi-hit capability and weight. A proposed replacement for the monolithic plates is a single layer ceramic sphere matrix. To quantify the performance of ceramic spheres as a front-face armor system, a technique to measure the work exerted on a projectile by different ceramic sphere configurations is presented. The measured work performed by the ceramic sphere systems will be compared to monolithic ceramic plate performance. Variables including ceramic sphere chemistry, size and encapsulations were studied on a mass efficiency basis. Overall performance for each of the ceramic sphere systems will be presented and compared to current armor systems.
Jarrod Robinson is an active duty US Marine Corps Major who is currently serving as faculty, instructing Naval Weapons Systems within the Weapons Robotics and Control Engineering Department, at the United States Naval Academy . His desire to protect the warfighter and increase lethality is the driving force behind his research. He has a background in material science, mathematics, physics, airspace management, and C4I. He was raised in Texas and is a graduate of Texas A&M Commerce with a bachelor’s of science in mathematics. He holds a master’s degree in applied physics from Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA. His key billets include detachment commander, air traffic control facility officer, command airspace liaison officer, and operations officer. He is a combat seasoned airspace command and control officer serving in support of OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM in 2008 and again in support of OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM from 2010 to 2011.