Conformal Ceramic Composite Armor System (CCCAS)

How often would you have to replace the armor? How much abuse could it handle? Whats the difficulty in maintenance? And is it financially feasible to issue out on a large scale? Is it heat resistant or does it conduct quite well? Just wondering because you dont want to turn the vehicle into an oven...

Something we are experimenting with is ribbed structures. We have not done more than computer models with these but they are interesting kinetically speaking. If you use a layer of 1/2" ceramic tubes on the outside of the first layer it acts like channels for blast energy directing it down the tubes and away from the main body of the vehicle armor. The idea is to basically sew into a ballistic fabric these ceramic tubes then lay them on your surface with epoxy and then give them a final coat of the hard ceramic to protect the fabric from the initial heat of the blast wave. This should hold the tubes together long enough for them to channel the blast energy and molten metal of the penatrator away from the vehicle. Like I said it is only a computer model but it might work against larger IEDs and heavy 20mm rounds more effectively.

We are focused on making vehicles survive most hand held munitions not trying to make HumVees into tanks.

reply to post by T_Clem

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Actually it is a very poor thermal conductor. That is why it defeats anti-tank rounds. The outside layer will not get hot to the touch even in the direct sun. The inside becomes a shaded thermal mass so it will actually stay cool for some time if the vehicle is air conditioned.

At 1.5" of armor protection it cost about $5000 per hummer to retrofit. This should be adequate protection for up to and including 50 caliber AP rounds. The maintenance cost is minimal and the armor can be repaired in the field. A paper tube with a plastic bag with some of the armor powder mix can be carried in the vehicle along with a can of the rubberized coating. Any water will work in the mix and it does not have to be super clean. It only takes 1 part in 10 of water by weight for the mix and it sets up hard enough to roll the vehicle within 20 minutes. It can have the finish put over the patch in 24 hours. It must stay out of the sun during curing. This can be done with a piece of 100 mile an hour tape.

[edit on 6/28/2009 by UFOTECH]

Have you thought of adding or implementing a liquid substance like a shear thickening fluid to your armor system? Or is this not feasible?

reply to post by T_Clem

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We have looked at it and the cost is very high and their are patent issues. We are focused on what we can do with the materials we have to work with and this includes for instance louvers of the ceramic material for the window areas and also stand off side mounted angled pieces of reinforced ceramics which is similar to a window louver but faces straight out and are run long ways to allow the air to channel through them. We found that a 2 inch wide 1/4" thick plates spaced 1/4" apart that stand off of the vehicle sides and underneath the vehicle in composite racks offer excellent resistance to rockets and large projectiles.

Didnt quite think about the expense or patent issues not to mention the added weight! Are there any estimated manueverability issues with a fully outfitted vehicle such as more prone to rolling or bogging down, or significant speed reduction? Because its good to have armor but you dont wanna be stuck and sit there taking rounds you know?

reply to post by T_Clem

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If a HumVee is outfitted with this system to threat level 4 it will add about 350 lbs to the vehicle. That is like 1 big guy and all of his equipment that you can not kick out of the vehicle. The vehicle will lose 1.6 cubic feet of interior room and the weight distribution will be the same as the standard vehicle so there should not be any increased roll problem. The bottom side might be upgraded with a bit more armor than the sides which would make it a bit more bottom heavy and improve the weight distribution over the standard configuration vehicles.


[edit on 6/28/2009 by UFOTECH]

Sorry for all the questions but thanks for answering them I hope things go well and I'll stay tuned for those videos!

reply to post by T_Clem

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No problem. They were all good questions and relevant to the topic. Being a Sunday and being the president of the company I end up being the only one here in the shop by myself. Checking ATS threads saves me having to do any real work.

Still waiting on them videos

reply to post by T_Clem

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Our legal council wants us to wait until we receive a patent publication number. It might take several weeks. Sorry to be so anti-climactic. Going against the advice of our legal council would likely end my presidency of the corporation.

[edit on 6/29/2009 by UFOTECH]

I presume you've already filed for a patent on this or else you would not be disclosing it publicly. However, just in case you haven't, you should be aware that you have one year from any public disclosure to file your patent application, or else you will be barred from receiving a patent on this subject matter. (I am a patent agent )

Sounds like some really cool technology. What is the name of your company, if you don't mind me asking? Best of luck to you on this endeavor!

Oh alright then well good luck!

reply to post by keeb333

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Thanks we have a patent attorney and he fortunately works for paper as we are not very cash rich. We will return to public trading within about another 6-8 months so we hope to make his paper worth a lot more than his fee.

reply to post by UFOTECH

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Well, best of luck to you all then!

(not a one liner)

IMPORTANT!! Is this new armor capable of deflecting or obsorbing more than 1 hit at a time. Say a couple of insurgents make a coordinated ambush on one of these vehicles with RPG's and machine guns, if this armor is not able to withstand numerous hits from all sides it is not even worth putting armor on the vehicle.

reply to post by Capitalist777

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We of course think that it will. We have not tested it to that level as yet and have only made computer simulations and some test panels and not a full vehicle. The internal reinforcement should give the ceramic the ability to deal with multiple threats. At 1.5" it should be able to withstand a 14.5mm machine gun assault. The window louvers would be required to protect those areas to that threat level. Simple ballistic laminates would not be very effective against an RPG for instance.

It certainly will make the vehicle more survivable in an assault situation. It is hard to describe just how tough this stuff is. Boron carbide is nearly as hard as diamond and we can pour it into shapes with this system. The epoxy and ballistic cloth jacket around the reinforced ceramic keeps the ceramic in place even if it undergoes some blast damage. If an attack pours enough rounds of large enough munitions it will defeat any armor system.

The object is to make the vehicle survive the initial assault so the crew can bug out or return fire through firing ports or dismount the vehicle and find better cover.

I referenced this system here:

www.abovetopsecret.com...

This is truly great sounding technology and much of what you have said I have seen before. So I have confidence in your company's ability to produce a quality product. Your armor system gave me precisely what I needed to finish conceptualizing the idea for this vehicle.

If you wouldn't mind your thoughts would be appreciated.

reply to post by UFOTECH

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I have been working for over two years on a continuous mixer/sprayer solution for chemically bonded phosphate ceramics. Whether you are using a potassium phosphate or a magnesium phosphate is immaterial however, my lab guy gets much better flexural numbers from the Mag Phos formulation. Compression numbers are about 14k psi. Flex numbers about 2k psi. I am about six months away from my latest prototype as I had to redesign the water injector system to a much greater precision. I have also had to redesign the mix chamber to create a much higher sheer/pressure sustaining sleeve as the formulation is very thick and dry until 80% of the travel through the high sheer portion of the chamber.
Once complete, you should be able to coat a maximum 50 sq ft per min at between 1/4" to 3/8" thickness.
Clean-up is a cinch as all mixing elements are made of plastic...if the material sets up, it de-laminates easily with finger pressure.
Working time of sprayed material is dependent upon surface temperature but tends to be about 3 minutes at room temperature.

I am willing to chat directly to UFOTECH by e-mail if you can arrange it with the administrator.

reply to post by UFOTECH

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Hey brother! Have you had any luck with the DOD taking a closer look at this? I imagine that is another thing you will be advised not to do though until you get all the patents filed.
Best of luck to you.

If you are ever looking for another hand to help fire live ammunitions at your armor for testing, drop me a line!