Abstract

The temperature of clay box used in the ballistic testing of body amour drops sharply upon removal from the oven. This implies that the clay has to be reinserted into the oven for another heating, which slows down the ballistic testing procedure. This paper attempts to solve the problem by studying the effect of addition of different percentages of rubber cuttings, saw dust and berley reeds additives on the cooling rate of clay used in clay box construction. The cooling rate is a measure of the ballistic performance of the clay box. The properties of the clay box such as the density, thermal conductivity and specific heat capacity are factored into the lump system analysis model. Minimum cooling rate of about 2.04×10^-03 and 1.89×10^-03oC/s were obtained when 0% and 10% rubber cuttings were used as dopands respectively. Rubber cuttings also proved to be the best additives that can be used to enhance the ballistic performance of clay box used in the ballistic testing of body armour.

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