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The results of tests for ballistic resistance of ceramic samples based on aluminum oxide (Al2O3 + 0.25MgO) obtained by high-speed electric pulse plasma sintering (EIPS) are presented. Samples 30 mm in diameter, 6.5 and 7 mm thick had a high relative density (more than 99%), a uniform fine-grained microstructure (average grain size ~1–1.5 mm), and increased hardness (more than 17 GPa). Using the finite element method, using the ANSYS Workbench package, it is shown that during rapid cooling at a rate of 50 °C/min, an uneven temperature field is formed in the samples and a difference in temperatures arises on two opposite sides of the ceramic samples. It has been established that non-uniform cooling during SPS leads to the formation of compressive internal stresses (up to –450 MPa), and there is a significant difference in the magnitude of internal stresses on opposite sides of ceramic samples. The differences in the parameters of the microstructure and microhardness on opposite sides of the samples are insignificant. Ballistic resistance tests were carried out at a speed of 700 m/s, using cylindrical-conical impactors made of hardened steel 52100. The ballistic resistance of the ceramics was evaluated by the anti-barrier action, i.e., the penetration depth of the striker into the aluminum witness sample located behind the tested ceramic plate. It is shown that the barrier action during testing of a ceramic plate with a large value of compressive internal stresses (from –390 to –450 MPa) is 1.5–2 times less than during ballistic testing of a ceramic plate, in the surface layer of which internal compressive stresses are small (from –60 to –90 MPa). The results obtained for the first time demonstrated the importance of the formation of compressive fields of internal stresses in ceramics, which makes it possible to further increase the ballistic resistance of protective ceramic plates.

The effects of the strain rate and degree on the scale of the strain aging effect in carbon steel U8 with lamellar pearlite microstructure, which is a eutectoid mixture of ferrite plates and brittle plates of secondary cementite Fe3C have been investigated. The microstructure and properties of Russian steel U8 after quasistatic compression, dynamic compression (shock processing), and explosion processing have been investigated. A low-temperature annealing (150–500 °C) of the non-deformed steel U8 has been shown to result in a monotonous reduction of hardness. The quasistatic compression and shock processing of the carbon steel were found to result in the strain aging manifested as an increasing hardness at annealing of the deformed steel U8. The increasing of the deformation degree and strain rate was accompanied by the increasing of hardness of the annealed steel. The explosion treatment was shown not to result in a notable improvement of the mechanical properties of carbon steel as well as in a change of the morphology of cementite plates. The deformation aging effect in steel U8 after the explosion loading was absent. The strain aging effect in U8 steel after quasistatic compression and dynamic loading was suggested to originate from an increasing of the lattice dislocation density, the long-range internal stress fields from which lead to the dissociation of the cementite Fe3C plates and to increasing of the concentration of carbon atoms in the ferrite crystal lattice. The absence of the strain aging effect in the carbon steel after the explosion loading is due to a small degree of the explosion deformation that doesn't allow providing an essential increasing of the lattice dislocation density in ferrite.

Ceramic armour materials are designated to protect personnel and vehicles against ballistic damage. The main effort is now focused on developing ceramics with difficult-to-obtain properties, such as high ballistic performance and light weight. Over the past 30 years, the development of ceramic materials has led to a sustained improvement in their properties and structural homogeneity. Nevertheless, the relation of these properties with the ballistic performance of ceramics remains unclear. This paper reviews the current understanding regarding the failure stages of ceramic armour and the methods used to evaluate ballistic performance. A comparison of alumina with silicon carbide and boron carbide was performed.

Mechanical properties of fine-grained Al-(1, 2, 3)%Zn alloys obtained by Equal Channel Angle Pressing were studied. The recrystallization activation energy was found to decrease with increasing Zn content. The Hall-Petch coefficient for the Al-Zn alloys was found to change nonmonotonously during annealing. An increased Zn concentration at the grain boundaries was shown to result in altering the creep and superplasticity mechanisms of the Al-Zn alloys. The corrosion rate of the Al-Zn alloys was found to depend on the annealing temperature nonmonotonously. The corrosion rate in the Al-(2,3)%Zn alloy was shown to decreasing down to 8–9 mm/year with increasing the annealing temperature up to 200 оC. The increasing of the annealing temperature up to 300 оC leads to the increasing of the corrosion rate up to 11.4–11.9 mm/year. The obtained results were analyzed on the base of a concept of solid phase wetting of the grain boundaries in the Al by Zn. The effect of solid state wetting of the grains boundaries was shown to allow explaining majority of anomalia observed in the Al-Zn alloys: (i) the effect of the reduction of the recrystallization activation energy; (ii) the effect of a non-monotonous variation of the Hall-Petch coefficient during annealing; (iii) an increasing of plasticity of the Al-Zn alloys in the creep regime, etc. In order to describe the anomalia in the corrosion resistance of the Al-Zn alloys, one should also take into account a nonuniform Zn distribution in the specimens.

The study has covered the effects of blast treatment on the microstructure parameters and mechanical performance of carbon steel. The calculation results of examining the structure and properties of carbon steel in its initial state and after explosive hardening in various sections of cylindrical carbon steel workpieces have been verified with the finite-element analysis using the ANSYS Workbench software environment. Blast treatment has been demonstrated to lead to a perceptible change in the structural state of carbon (cementite) in steel.