A Comparison of the Ballistic Performances of Various Microstructures in Mil-A Armor Steel

Abstract

Due to their advantageous properties, there is a growing interest in developing armor steels containing fully or partially bainitic microstructures. In this study, bainitic and martensitic microstructures were obtained in rolled homogeneous armor (RHA) steel samples and their ballistic protection performances were investigated. RHA (MIL-A-12560) steel samples were subjected to isothermal heat treatments at three different temperatures, where one temperature (360 degrees C) was above the martensite formation start (Ms) temperature of 336 degrees C while the other two (320 degrees C and 270 degrees C) were below. For the assessment of the ballistic protection performance, the kinetic energy losses of the 12.7 mm bullets fired at the test samples were determined. The promising nature of the bainite microstructure was confirmed as the sample isothermally treated at 360 degrees C provided approximately 10% higher ballistic protection as compared to the regular RHA sample of tempered martensite microstructure. However, the ballistic performances of the isothermally treated samples decreased as the treatment temperature went below the Ms temperature. Following the ballistic tests, hardness measurements, impact tests at -40 degrees C, and macro- and microstructural examinations of the samples were performed. No correlation was found between the hardness and impact energies of the samples and their ballistic performances.