Ceramic armor crack arresting materials
What are ceramic armor crack arresting materials? Put simply, it's one or more layers of strong (often cross-plied) materials designed to hold the ceramic strike face together. In the image below, you can see our "standard" crack arresting layering (green piece on armor front, referred to as the strike face).
Benefits:
- Increases multi-hit protection.
- Reduces ancillary tile damage.
- Controls ceramic fragmentation (ceramic shard ejection from strike face) when used in thick enough layers.
Cons:
- The use of crack arresting materials, especially thicker layers - will increase backface formation (BFD). This is a byproduct of trapping the ballistic energy within the armor system. The increase in BFD is generally minimal, depending on materials used.
GTS Levels of Crack Arresting Materials:
- Standard: 2-ply carbon and aramid materials layers.
- Enhanced: 4-ply carbon and aramid materials layers.
- Crack Arrestor Plate: Applied materials in sufficient thickness and with adhesive appropriate to prevent ceramic strike face ejection (fragmentation).