Encapsulated ceramic armor

1. A ceramic armor comprising:

a ceramic core; and

a metallic layer formed from an amorphous alloy having a yield strength of at least 1.6 GPa and an elastic strain limit of at least 1.2%, the amorphous alloy encapsulating the ceramic core such that the metallic layer places the ceramic core under a compressive stress of at least 400 MPa, wherein at least a portion of the metallic layer formed from an amorphous alloy has a thickness of about 0.5 mm or more.

2. The ceramic armor as described in claim 1 , wherein the amorphous alloy is described by the following molecular formula: (Zr,Ti) a (Ni,Cu, Fe) b (Be,Al,Si,B) c , wherein “a” is in the range of from about 30 to 75, “b” is in the range of from about 5 to 60, and “c” in the range of from about 0 to 50 in atomic percentages.

3. The ceramic armor as described in claim 1 , wherein the amorphous alloy is described by the following molecular formula: (Zr,Ti) a (Ni,Cu) b (Be) c , wherein “a” is in the range of from about 40 to 75, “b” is in the range of from about 5 to 50, and “c” in the range of from about 5 to 50 in atomic percentages.

4. The ceramic armor as described in claim 1 , wherein the amorphous alloy is a Zr—Ti base bulk solidifying amorphous alloy.

5. The ceramic armor as described in claim 1 , wherein the amorphous alloy is described by the following molecular formula: (Zr) a (Nb,Ti) b (Ni,Cu) c (Al) d , wherein “a” is in the range of from about 45 to 65, “b” is in the range of from about 0 to 10, “c” in the range of from about 20 to 40, and “d” in the range of from about 7.5 to 15 in atomic percentages.

6. The ceramic armor as described in claim 1 , wherein the amorphous alloy can sustain strains up to 1.5% or more without any permanent deformation or breakage.

7. The ceramic armor as described in claim 1 , wherein the amorphous alloy has a high fracture toughness of at least about 10 ksi-√in.

8. The ceramic armor as described in claim 1 , wherein the amorphous alloy has a high fracture toughness of at least about 20 ksi-√in.

9. The ceramic armor as described in claim 1 , wherein the amorphous alloy has a high hardness value of at least about 4 Gpa.

10. The ceramic armor as described in claim 1 , wherein the amorphous alloy has a high hardness value of at least about 5.5 GPa.

11. The ceramic armor as described in claim 1 , wherein the amorphous alloy has a density in the range of about 4.5 to 6.5 g/cc.

12. The ceramic armor as described in claim 1 , wherein the ceramic core is a material selected from the group consisting of Al 2 O 3 , B 4 C, SiC, Si 3 N 4 and TiB 2 .

13. The ceramic armor as described in claim 1 , wherein the ceramic core has a density of 99% or higher.

14. The ceramic armor as described in claim 1 , wherein the amorphous alloy is based on ferrous metals wherein the hardness of the amorphous alloys is about 7.5 Gpa and higher.

15. The ceramic armor as described in claim 1 , wherein the amorphous alloy further comprises a ductile metallic crystalline phase precipitate.

16. The ceramic armor as described in claim 1 , wherein the metallic layer fully surrounds the ceramic core.

17. The ceramic armor as described in claim 1 , wherein the metallic layer has a substantially uniform thickness.

18. The ceramic armor as described in claim 1 , wherein the metallic layer is chemically bonded to the ceramic core.

19. The ceramic armor as described in claim 1 , wherein the metallic layer applies a compressive stress of 800 Mpa or more to the ceramic core.

20. The ceramic armor as described in claim 1 , wherein at least one face of the ceramic core is exposed.

21. The ceramic armor as described in claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of independent ceramic cores at least partially encapsulated by the metallic layer.

22. The ceramic armor as described in claim 1 , comprising a plurality of alternating layers of the ceramic core and the metallic layer.

23. The ceramic armor as described in claim 1 , wherein the metallic layer is less than 2.0 mm.