In response to the growing market for body and platform protection, Nurol Teknoloji, a major Turkish manufacturer of ceramic protective elements, is expanding its capacities, both qualitatively and quantitatively. The most recent step was the acquisition of the German ceramics specialist Industriekeramik Hochrhein (IKH) and its integration into the production process.
Long-range weapons mean that forces and their platforms in the theatre of operations and beyond are in constant danger of being hit by bullets and fragments. The growing importance of protection, and in particular individual protection, has led to a boom in protective elements of all kinds. Two basic requirements are at odds: high protection and low weight. High weight reduces mobility and reduces the willingness to wear body armour.
Modern armour-piercing projectiles, improvised explosive devices (IEDs), unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and a range of new challenges underline the need for robust protection solutions. In response to the changing dynamics on the battlefield and the resulting increased demand for protection against the multitude of threats, protection solutions are being developed to anticipate and mitigate the evolving threats facing armed forces today and, in the future, ensuring the safety of operators in a dynamic operational environment.
Different threats require different protection technologies to ensure the required level of protection against each threat. Different technologies often have to be combined in order to realise the best possible protection. Today, ballistic body protection is primarily based on panels made of ceramic materials.
Production of ceramic protective plates
Nurol Teknoloji, part of Nurol Holding, is one of the most important manufacturers of protective ceramics in Turkey. Since 2008, the company has been manufacturing ballistic protection products for personal, platform, and structural protection (safety cabins, containers) at several production sites in Ankara. High-performance technical ceramics are used for this purpose. The product range of ballistic ceramics includes Boron carbide (B4C), silicon carbide (SiC) and Aluminium oxide (Al2O3).
Credit: Gerhard Heiming
According to Nurol’s description, Boron carbide is the third-hardest known material, surpassed only by diamond and cubic Boron nitride. Not only is it exceptionally hard, but it is also one of the most demanding materials in the world to manufacture. Its combination of hardness and relatively low density of 2.5 g/cm³ (compared to around 7.85 g/cm³ for steels) make Boron carbide among the lightest choices for high-end ballistic protection – thereby making it a good choice for personal protection ballistic plates. In addition to its role as an armouring material, Boron carbide is used in nozzle production due to its high wear resistance and in the nuclear industry due to its exceptional neutron absorption.
With the acquisition of IKH, Nurol Teknoloji has strengthened an essential element of ceramic production. IKH is a German specialist in the production of ceramic powder, the base material for protective plates.
The ceramic powders are produced in complex chemical-physical processes. Precise adherence to the process parameters is a prerequisite for the high and consistent quality of the raw materials. The raw materials are finely ground and mixed according to the product specification. According to IKH, the ceramic powder produced in this way is dimensionally stable during the sintering process with good pressing properties. This allows a high sintering density to be achieved, with the optimal physical and chemical properties.
The powder produced at IKH is mainly transported by lorry to the Nurol Teknoloji production facility in Ankara. In the next step, the ceramic powder is pressed into moulds at high pressure to shape the material toward its intended purpose, for instance as body armour plates or tiles for vehicle platforms. These blanks are then sintered at high temperatures. The properties of the IKH powder and the associated physical and chemical processes give the material a hardness and toughness that goes beyond the required resistance to high-end ammunition.
The direct sintered Boron carbide plates, are currently among the top products for body armour, with a claimed weight saving of around 25% compared to other Boron carbide body armour solutions. The picture shows the starting product Boron carbide powder with the protective plate blank on the right and the finished, already coated body armour element on the left, with the fabric layer in front, the protective plate in the centre and the backing behind it. The latter distributes the penetrating energy and prevents splinters from reaching the body.
Nurol Teknoloji continues to invest in high-temperature sintering furnaces to increase capacity for direct sintered Silicon carbide and Boron carbide, to meet the increasing demand for the lightest possible personal and vehicle protection solutions.
Gerhard Heiming
