Aug 26, 2025

US12398980 - Ceramic armor with controlled pore size dispersion

Anti-ballistic armor element, comprising a ceramic body comprising a sintered material consisting of ceramic grains with a Vickers hardness of more than 5 GPa, the total pore volume of said material being between 0.5 and 10%, said ceramic body being characterized in that the cumulative volume of pores with a diameter of between 30 and 100 micrometers represents between 0.2 and 2.5% of the volume of said material, the cumulative volume of pores with a diameter of more than 100 micrometers is less than 0.2% of the volume of said material, the remainder of said total pore volume consisting of pores whose diameter is less than 30 micrometers.

Assignee: SAINT-GOBAIN CENTRE DE RECHERCHES ET D'ETUDES EUROPEEN
Inventors: Jerome Brulin, Gilles Rossiquet, Matthieu Graveleau
Filing date: 2022-02-04

The patent describes an anti-ballistic armor element made from a sintered ceramic material with specific pore size distributions to enhance its protective capabilities. The ceramic body features a Vickers hardness greater than 5 GPa and a controlled total pore volume, optimizing its performance against ballistic threats.

Claim 1

An anti-ballistic armor element, comprising a ceramic body comprising a sintered material consisting of ceramic grains with a Vickers hardness of more than 5 GPa, the total volume of the pores of said material being between 0.5 and 10%, said ceramic body being characterized in that: the cumulative volume of pores with a diameter of between 30 and 100 micrometers represents between 0.2 and 2.5% of the volume of said material, the cumulative volume of pores with a diameter greater than 100 micrometers is less than 0.2% of the volume of said material, the rest of said total pore volume consists of pores with a diameter of less than 30 micrometers; and wherein the distribution by volume of the diameter of the pores of said material is multimodal and comprises at least a first peak with a maximum within a range of pore diameters comprised between 0.1 and 15 micrometers and a second peak with a maximum within a pore diameter interval of between 40 and 80 micrometers. the cumulative volume of pores with a diameter of between 30 and 100 micrometers represents between 0.2 and 2.5% of the volume of said material, the cumulative volume of pores with a diameter greater than 100 micrometers is less than 0.2% of the volume of said material, the rest of said total pore volume consists of pores with a diameter of less than 30 micrometers; and wherein the distribution by volume of the diameter of the pores of said material is multimodal and comprises at least a first peak with a maximum within a range of pore diameters comprised between 0.1 and 15 micrometers and a second peak with a maximum within a pore diameter interval of between 40 and 80 micrometers.

Google Patents

https://patents.google.com/patent/US12398980

USPTO PDF

https://image-ppubs.uspto.gov/dirsearch-public/print/downloadPdf/12398980