Biomimetic multi-layered protective materials with prestress and a periodic laminated structure

The nacreous layer of shells has become an excellent biomimetic template of materials due to its unique structure. Inspired by the highly complex multilayered structure of shells, biomimetic layered composite protective materials with outstanding strength, toughness, and impact resistance have been developed. As the hard phase in biomimetic pearlescent layered protective materials, ceramics suffer from inherent low toughness. Applying prestress proved to be an efficient method to enhance their toughness and impact resistance. In this study, prestressed biomimetic periodic laminated (TiB₂–TiB)/Ti protective materials were fabricated with spark plasma sintering (SPS) technology under the conditions of 1450 °C and 30 MPa in an argon atmosphere. Moreover, both experimental and numerical simulation analyses were conducted to investigate their protective performance. Compared to non-prestressed protective materials, the prestressed constrained materials exhibited the significantly improved protective performance with reduced penetration depth, substantially lower residual velocity, and kinetic energy after impact. This study provided valuable insights into the structural design and performance optimization of other protective materials.