Penetration resistance of graphene coated ceramic materials under projectile impacts

Abstract

Extreme conditions including impact can result in material degradation, permanent damages, and occasionally property/life loss. Therefore, investigation of materials and structures under projectile impact has been a canonical field of research over the past decades. Such studies have led to the development of hybrid materials with high performance and durability under the aforementioned loading. As an emerging hybrid material, graphene oxide (GO) - silicon carbide (SiC) provides promising thermo-chemo-mechanical properties with various applications in defense, energy, and aerospace engineering. Nevertheless, penetration resistance of such composites under impact received less attention due to experimental and computational difficulties. Here, ReaxFF molecular dynamics is leveraged to address the aforesaid problem around room temperature. In that regard, the response of 4H-SiC thin films coated by GO samples under indentation and high-velocity projectile impact is studied. It is observed that (a) ceramic substrates coated by GO samples with higher functional groups concentration (oxidation degree) demonstrate softer behavior under indentation, and (b) fracture and penetration resistance under high-velocity impact are altered based on the oxidation degree of the coating layers. In essence, impact-induced complete perforation becomes more localized to the impacted region by increasing the oxidation content of the coating layers. The influence of oxygen functional groups on the adhesion energy between GO and SiC layers is also investigated. It is observed that adhesion energy between SiC and the coating can be ameliorated by the oxidation degree of the graphene samples. Eventually, the above-mentioned findings provide some insights into the bottom-up design pathways for developing ceramic-based protective barriers in which GO is used as a coating layer or reinforcement

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