Armor is homogeneous in modern tanks: strength, ricochetability

Armor is a protective material that is characterized by high resistance and resistance to external factors, threatening deformation and violation of its integrity. It does not matter what kind of protection it is: whether it's chivalry armor or heavy cover of modern combat vehicles, the goal remains one - to protect from damage and take the brunt.

. Armor homogeneous - protective homogeneous layer of material, which has increased strength and has a uniform chemical composition throughout the cross section and the same properties . It is about this type of protection that will be discussed in the article.

History

The first mention of armor is found in medieval sources, it is a question of armor and shields of soldiers. Their main purpose was to protect body parts from swords, sabers, axes, spears, arrows and other weapons.

With the advent of firearms, it became necessary to abandon the use of relatively soft materials in the manufacture of armor and move to a more stable and stable not only to deformations, but also to environmental conditions of alloys.

Over time, decorations used on shields and armor, symbolizing the status and honor of the nobility, began to go away in the past. The shape of the lat and shields began to simplify, giving way to practicality.

As a matter of fact, all world progress has reduced to speed race of the invention of the newest kinds of the weapon and protection against it. As a result, the simplification of the form of armor led to a decrease in cost (due to lack of jewelry), but increased practicality. As a result, the armor became more accessible.

Iron and steel found application even further, when the quality and thickness of the armor were at the forefront of the angle. The phenomenon has found a response in shipbuilding and machine building, as well as in strengthening of ground structures and inactive units such as a catapult and ballista.

Types of armor

With the development of metallurgy in the historical plan, improvements in the thickness of the shells were observed, which gradually led to the appearance of armor of modern types (tank, ship, aviation, etc.).

In the modern world, the arms race does not cease for a minute, which leads to the emergence of new types of defense as a means of countering existing types of weapons.

Based on the design features, the following types of armor are distinguished:

• Homogeneous;
• Reinforced;
• Hinged;
• Spaced apart.

Based on the application methods:

• Body - any armor worn to protect the body, and it does not matter what it is - the armor of a medieval warrior or bullet-proof vest of a modern soldier;
• Transport - metal alloys in the form of plates, as well as bullet-proof glass, the purpose of which is to protect the crew and passengers of equipment;
• Ship - armor for the protection of ships (underwater and surface parts);
• Building - a kind used to protect dots, dugouts and derevoemlyanyh firing points (bunkers);
• Space - all kinds of anti-shock screens and mirrors to protect space stations from orbital debris and harmful effects of direct sunlight in outer space;
• Cable - designed to protect submarine cables from damage and long-term operation in an aggressive environment.

Armor is homogeneous and heterogeneous

The materials used to make the armor reflect the development of the outstanding engineering design of engineers. The availability of minerals such as chromium, molybdenum or tungsten allows the development of high-strength samples; The absence of such creates the need to develop narrowly focused formations. For example, armor plates, which would easily be balanced by the criterion of the ratio of price and quality.

By appointment, the armor is divided into bulletproof, anti-ballistic and structural. Armor is homogeneous (from one material throughout the cross-sectional area) or heterogeneous (different in composition) used to create both anti-bullet coatings and anti-ballistic. But that's not all.

Homogeneous armor has the same chemical composition throughout the cross-sectional area, and identical chemical and mechanical properties. Heterogeneous can have different mechanical properties (hardened steel on one side, for example).

Katana Homogeneous Armor

By the way of manufacturing armor (whether it is homogeneous armor or heterogeneous) coatings are divided into:

• Katanas. This is a type of cast armor, which has been processed on a rolling machine. Due to compression on the press, the molecules approach each other, and the material becomes denser. This type of heavy-duty armor has one drawback: it can not be cast. Used on tanks, but only in the form of flat plates. On a tank turret, for example, you need a round one.
• Cast. Accordingly, less strong in percentage terms than the previous version. However, such a coating can be used for the tower of tanks. Cast homogeneous armor, of course, will be stronger than the heterogeneous armor. But, as they say, a good spoon is good for dinner.

Purpose

If we consider anti-bullet protection against conventional and armor-piercing bullets, as well as the impact of small bombs and shell fragments, then such a surface can be represented in two versions: rolled homogeneous armor of high strength or heterogeneous cemented with high strength of both the front and back sides.

Anti-ballistic (protects from the impact of large shells), the coating is also represented by several types. The most common of these are rolled and cast homogeneous armor of several strength categories: high, medium and low.

Another type - katana heterogeneous. It is a cemented coating with hardening on one side, the strength of which decreases "in depth."

The thickness of the armor in relation to hardness in this case is the ratio 25:15:60 (outer, inner, back layers, respectively).

Application

Russian tanks, like ships, are currently covered with chrome nickel or nickel-plated steel. And if the construction of ships uses a steel armored belt with isothermal hardening, the tanks are covered with a composite protective shell, which consists of several layers of materials.

For example, the frontal armor of the universal combat platform "Armata" is represented by a composite layer, impenetrable for modern antitank missiles of caliber up to 150 mm and sub-caliber arrowheads of caliber up to 120 mm.

And also anti-cumulative screens are used. It's hard to say whether this is the best armor or not. The tanks of Russia are being improved, and protection is also improving with them.

Armor vs Shell

Of course, it is unlikely that the members of the tank calculation keep in mind the detailed tactical and technical characteristics of the combat vehicle, indicating the thickness of the protective layer and what kind of projectile it will hold in millimeters, as well as whether the armor of the combat vehicle used is homogeneous or not.

The properties of modern armor can not be described only by the notion of "thickness". For the simple reason that the threat from modern shells, against which, in fact, such a protective shell is developed, comes from the kinetic and chemical energy of the shells.

Kinetic energy

By kinetic energy (better to say "kinetic threat") is meant the ability of the projectile's blast to flush armor. For example, a projectile made of depleted uranium or tungsten carbide will strike through. Homogeneous steel armor is useless against hitting those. There are no criteria by which it can be argued that 200 mm homogeneous is equivalent to 1300 mm heterogeneous.

The secret of opposing the projectile lies in the location of the armor, which leads to a change in the vector of the impact of the projectile on the thickness of the coating.

Cumulative projectile

The chemical threat is represented by such types of projectiles as antitank armor-piercing and high-explosive (according to international nomenclature it is designated as HESH) and cumulative (HEAT).

The cumulative projectile (contrary to the established opinion and influence of the game World Of Tanks) does not carry a flammable filling. Its action is based on focusing the impact energy in a thin jet, which, thanks to high pressure, and not temperature, breaks through the protective layer.

Protection from this kind of shells is the build-up of the so-called false armor, which takes on the energy of impact. The simplest example is the tightening of tanks by a grid-rabitsa from old beds during the Second World War by Soviet soldiers.

The Israelis defend the corps of their Merkava by attaching steel balls hanging on chains to the hull.

Another option is to create dynamic armor. When a directed jet strikes a cumulative projectile with a protective shell, detonation of the armored cover takes place. Explosion, directed in contrast to the cumulative jet, leads to the dispersion of the latter.

Fugas

The action of an armor-piercing high-explosive shell is reduced to flowing around the armor body during a collision and transfer of a huge shock pulse through a layer of metal. Further, like skittles in bowling, layers of armor pushes each other, which leads to deformation. Thus, armored plates are destroyed. And a layer of armor, scattering, causing injury to the crew.

Protection from high explosive shells can be the same as cumulative.

Conclusion

One of the historically documented cases of the use of unusual chemical compounds for the protection of a tank is the initiative of Germany to cover the technique with a zimmerite. This was done to protect the corps "Tigers" and "Panther" from magnetic mines.

The composition of the Zimmerite mixture included elements such as barium sulfate, zinc sulphide, wood sawdust, ocher pigment and a binder based on polyvinyl acetate.

The use of the mixture began in 1943 and ended in 1944, for the reason that the drying required several days, and Germany at that time was already in the position of the losing side.

In the future, the practice of using such a mixture has nowhere found a response in view of the refusal from the use of infantry by hand anti-tank magnetic mines and the appearance of much more powerful weapons - anti-tank grenade launchers.