Additively Manufactured Ballistic Body Armor

Modern shaping processes such as Additive Manufacturing (AM) make it possible to produce customized body armor for ballistic protective vests. These consist of textile, metallic, ceramic or composite materials, depending on the protective task. Typical representatives of ceramic materials for protection systems are aluminum oxide (Al2O3), silicon carbide (SiC) and boron carbide (B4C). The advantage: the hardness ensures excellent protection, the low weight maximum mobility.

Fraunhofer IKTS uses additive processes such as CerAM Binder Jetting (BJT) and CerAM Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) to develop lightweight torso plates in various shapes, sizes, thicknesses and materials - tailored to the corresponding protection task.