Abstract An armour comprising a composite material consisting of a mixture of hard particulate material and fibrous material dispersed throughout a matrix material, the distribution of the particulate and fibrous materials through the matrix material being such that the properties of the composite material change progressively from predominantly hard at one surface to predominantly resilient at another surface, and a method of manufacturing the armour in which a plurality of sheets of material the compositions of which may vary so far as the ratio of particulate to fibrous material is concerned are stacked together and hot-pressed at a temperature sufficient to cause the matrix material to flow so as to form a unified voidfree composite material the properties of which vary progressively throughout the material from predominantly hard at one surface to predominantly resilient at the opposite surface.
An armour according to claim 1 wherein the matrix material is a glass.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
20 words
An armour according to claim 2 wherein the glass is selected from the group comprising nucleating glasses and borosilicate glasses.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
14 words
An armour according to claim 1 wherein the particulate material is a ceramic material.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
23 words
An armour according to claim 4 wherein the ceramic material is selected from the group comprising silicon carbide, boron carbide and silicon nitride.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
13 words
An armour according to claim 1 wherein the fibrous material is carbon fibre.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
17 words
An armour according to claim 1 wherein the fibrous material is a ceramic material in whisker form.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
17 words
An armour according to claim 1 wherein the fibrous material is a metal oxide in whisker form.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
13 words
An armour according to claim 1 wherein the fibrous material is metal wires.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
98 words
A method of manufacturing an armour as claimed in claim 1 comprising the operations of stacking together a plurality of sheets of composite material having differing proportions of particulate and fibrous materials dispersed in the matrix material in such a manner that the relative proportions of particulate and fibrous materials vary throughout the stack, and hot pressing at a temperature sufficient to cause the matrix material to flow so as to form a unified void-free composite material the properties of which vary progressively throughout the material from predominantly hard at one surface to predominantly resilient at another surface.