I've programmed a webpage using Javascript to display an animation which shows a range of different trispokedovetiles, each of which can be specified by a "CIRCLE" percentage, which is the ratio as a percent of two parameters -
- A "HEXAGON" parameter length - always nominally "100%"
- A "CIRCLE" parameter length - the animation varies this between 100% and 135%, though values up to 150% can be drawn.
I've tested the animation in Chrome and Internet Explorer browsers and it works fine for me but it is not working in Firefox for some as yet unknown reason.
I've named the shape Trispokedovetile which is a contraction of "tri-spoke dovetailing tile".
- "tri-spoke" because the shape is similar to a 3-spoke motorcycle
wheel with three bites taken out of it. - "dovetailing" because the tiles interlock like a dovetail joint
One issue with hexagonal or square armour tiles is that such simple shapes don't interlock naturally, as do jigsaw puzzle pieces.
Whilst a little armour tile movement normal to the armour plane is useful in absorbing the kinetic energy of a ballistic impact, such as from a bullet and better than the armour tile absorbing the same kinetic energy by shattering, on the other hand, tile movement tangential to the armour plane leaves most unwelcome gaps in the armour.
So armour tiles shaped like jigsaw puzzle shapes (or some hexagonal variation such as these trispokedovetiles) could perform well in this application.