Abstract: Body armor includes a first armor plate having a concave rear surface, a second plate having a convex front surface. Contours of the second layer are formed by conforming the contours between the polymer plate and the armor plate into a shape that fills gaps or voids between the concave rear surface of the armor plate, such that the armor plate and the polymer plate form a matched set. In operation, the ceramic armor plate can be used alone, the polymer plate can be used alone, or the hard armor layer and the polymer plate can be used together.

Abstract: Body armor includes a first armor plate having a concave rear surface, a second plate having a convex front surface. Contours of the second layer are formed by conforming the contours between the polymer plate and the armor plate into a shape that fills gaps or voids between the concave rear surface of the armor plate, such that the armor plate and the polymer plate form a matched set. In operation, the ceramic armor plate can be used alone, the polymer plate can be used alone, or the hard armor layer and the polymer plate can be used together.

Abstract: A non-destructive method for assessing the “degree of sensitization” of ship structures formed from aluminum-magnesium marine service alloys. Features of the method include (1) selective etching of beta phase in a sensitized aluminum-magnesium alloy (2) metallographic recording of the etched surface; (3) image enhancement to produce high-contrast binary images of etched and unetched areas; (4) image analysis of the enhanced images using line segments along grain boundaries to provide statistical information about the grain boundary beta phase percentage and (5) calibration, whereby the grain boundary beta phase percentage is converted to an expression of the degree of sensitization in the sample.

Abstract: A non-destructive method for assessing the “degree of sensitization” of ship structures formed from aluminum-magnesium marine service alloys. Features of the method include (1) selective etching of beta phase in a sensitized aluminum-magnesium alloy (2) metallographic recording of the etched surface; (3) image enhancement to produce high-contrast binary images of etched and unetched areas; (4) image analysis of the enhanced images using line segments along grain boundaries to provide statistical information about the grain boundary beta phase percentage and (5) calibration, whereby the grain boundary beta phase percentage is converted to an expression of the degree of sensitization in the sample.

Abstract: Body armor includes a first armor plate having a concave rear surface, a second plate having a convex front surface, and optionally, a separate coupling layer configured to fit between the first ceramic armor plate and the polymer plate. The contours of the coupling layer are formed by pressing the coupling layer between the polymer plate and the armor plate into a shape that fills gaps or voids between the concave rear surface of the armor plate and the convex front surface of the polymer plate, such that the armor plate, the polymer plate, and the coupling layer form a matched set. In operation, the ceramic armor plate can be used alone, the polymer plate can be used alone, or the hard armor layer and the polymer plate can be used together with the optional coupling layer positioned between them.

Abstract: Body armor includes a first armor plate having a concave rear surface, a second plate having a convex front surface, and optionally, a separate coupling layer configured to fit between the first ceramic armor plate and the polymer plate. The contours of the coupling layer are formed by pressing the coupling layer between the polymer plate and the armor plate into a shape that fills gaps or voids between the concave rear surface of the armor plate and the convex front surface of the polymer plate, such that the armor plate, the polymer plate, and the coupling layer form a matched set. In operation, the ceramic armor plate can be used alone, the polymer plate can be used alone, or the hard armor layer and the polymer plate can be used together with the optional coupling layer positioned between them.

Abstract: A method for desensitizing an aluminum alloy is presented. A desired location on the surface of an aluminum alloy sample is exposed to a controlled pulsed electron beam. The pulsed electron beam heats a shallow layer of the metal alloy having a desired depth at the desired location on the surface of the sample to a temperature between a solvus temperature and an annealing temperature of the metal alloy to controllably reduce a degree of sensitization of the metal alloy sample at the desired location, an extent of a reduction in the degree of sensitization being controllable by varying at least one of a voltage, a current density, a pulse duration, a pulse frequency and a number of pulses of the electron beam.

Abstract: A method for desensitizing an aluminum alloy is presented. A desired location on the surface of an aluminum alloy sample is exposed to a controlled pulsed electron beam. The pulsed electron beam heats a shallow layer of the metal alloy having a desired depth at the desired location on the surface of the sample to a temperature between a solvus temperature and an annealing temperature of the metal alloy to controllably reduce a degree of sensitization of the metal alloy sample at the desired location, an extent of a reduction in the degree of sensitization being controllable by varying at least one of a voltage, a current density, a pulse duration, a pulse frequency and a number of pulses of the electron beam.

Abstract: Stabilized zirconia containing sintered particles of alumina and zirconia tetragonal phase at temperatures below about 1150.degree. C. is prepared by mixing alumina particles of less than 30 nanometers with zirconia particles of less than 30 nanometers in presence of a liquid to form a suspension, drying the suspension at a temperature up to about 600.degree. C. to remove the liquid and products thereof to form a dried suspension composed of agglomerated alumina and zirconia particles, sintering the dried suspension to fuse the particles, and cooling the sintered dried suspension to an ambient temperature to produce free-standing bodies or coatings on substrates.

Abstract: A method of forming a phase-separated composite material which utilizes sputtering in a thermal gradient at relatively high sputtering pressures generally above about 0.1 Torr sufficient to produce nanoscale particles which are embedded in a continuous phase matrix produced by normal sputtering. This method avoids the alloying and/or compound formation which prevents preparation of phase-separated composites by conventional co-sputtering, and the invention thus enables particulate composites to be formed from entirely new classes of materials. Microhardness testing shows that the phase-separated composites produced by the present invention have an increased hardness compared to the pure matrix material.