Materials Expertise
As a fully integrated company within the Mehler group of companies, we have unique expertise in everything from fibre selection and fabric production to combinations with other protective materials such as steel or ceramics.
When using our performance and cost-optimised protective systems made of steel, fibres or ceramic composites, we take into account material-specific design and development concepts.
The special focus of our development work is on the innovative combination of a wide variety of protective materials with the aim of developing high-performance and at the same time lightweight overall systems against the threat scenarios of today and tomorrow.
Here we provide some information on the most significant protective materials.
Armour Steel
Steel offers ideal protection in many situations and is one of the most widely used protective materials.
For applications where the lowest possible protective weight is required, steel as a single material is only suitable to a limited extent.
With additional fibre components, we are able to significantly improve the properties and achieve lightweight structures.
Fibres
High-performance PE and aramid fibres are characterised in particular by their low protective weight. This means they have a firm place in lightweight protection, in composites or spall liners. They are thus among the most modern materials and their protective efficiency is continuously increasing.
The choice of the right fibre depends on many factors, such as performance efficiency, cost or weight target.
In the right combination and processing, these materials really come into their own as composites.
As a stand-alone solution, fibres quickly reach their ballistic limits, so they are only used in combination with e.g. armour steel or ceramics, especially in higher protection classes.
In addition to simple panel materials, we can also manufacture complex 3D structures in-house. This makes complex structures such as door inserts or vehicle end walls producible with low tooling costs.
Ceramics
When a pure fibre solution is no longer sufficient or steel can be excluded due to its high weight, ceramic materials are used to achieve the protection level.
In combination with a fibre material, it offers the advantage of being only about half as heavy as armour steel.
Since ceramics are very hard but also brittle, they only achieve their ballistic performance with an appropriate composite, such as aramid.
In this way, even hard-core projectiles can be reliably stopped and secondary splinters can be prevented.
Composite Materials
By combining protective materials, the individual materials are united to form a system that is as light as possible and maintains its protective effect even in high protection classes.
This achieves a weight per unit area that is about 30-50% lower than, for example, with armour steel. In order to achieve the highest possible protection efficiency with the lowest possible weight, materials are combined individually. In most cases, the aim is to achieve the lowest possible weight without having to sacrifice the protective effect.
In addition to the ballistic properties, other factors such as environmental influences and application capabilities determine the possible use.
The Mehler Group has decades of experience in composite manufacturing. Every solution that comes into question is subjected to extensive testing.
We are constantly working on the development of new solutions in order to stay one step ahead of growing requirements.