Ballistic Resistant Body Armor: Contemporary and Prospective Materials and Related Protection Mechanisms

2009 ◽  
Vol 62 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
N. V. David ◽  
X.-L. Gao ◽  
J. Q. Zheng

Modern military operations, technology-driven war tactics, and current on-street weapons and ammunition necessitate the development of advanced ballistic protection body armor systems that are damage-resistant, flexible, lightweight, and of great energy absorbing capacity. A number of studies related to new concepts and designs of body armor materials (including those derived from or inspired by nature) have been conducted in the past two decades to meet the new demands. Ballistic fabrics, ceramics, and laminated composites are among the leading materials used in modern body armor designs, and nano-particle and natural fiber filled composites are candidate materials for new-generation body armor systems. Properties and ballistic resistance mechanisms of such materials have been extensively investigated. Based on a comprehensive and critical review of the advances and findings resulting from these investigations, a comparative study on design, protection mechanisms, and performance evaluation of various types of anti-ballistic body armor is presented in this paper. Body armor systems made from different materials and exhibiting distinct ballistic energy absorption mechanisms are discussed, and key factors that influence the ballistic performance and energy absorbing mechanisms of the body armor systems are identified.

Author(s):  
Amanda L. Forster ◽  
Dennis D. Leber ◽  
Amy Engelbrecht-Wiggans ◽  
Virginie Landais ◽  
Allen Chang ◽  
...  

It has long been a goal of the body armor testing community to establish an individualized, scientific-based protocol for predicting the ballistic performance end of life for fielded body armor. A major obstacle in achieving this goal is the test methods used to ascertain ballistic performance, which are destructive in nature and require large sample sizes. In this work, using both the Cunniff and Phoenix-Porwal models, we derived two separate but similar theoretical relationships between the observed degradation in mechanical properties of aged body armor and its decreased ballistic performance. We present two studies used to validate the derived functions. The first correlates the degradation in mechanical properties of fielded body armor to the degradation produced by a laboratory accelerated-aging protocol. The second examines the ballistic resistance and the extracted-yarn mechanical properties of new and laboratory-aged body armor made from poly(p-phenylene-2,6-benzobisoxazole), or PBO, and poly(p-phenylene terephthalamide), or PPTA. We present correlations found between the tensile strengths of yarns extracted from armor and the ballistic limit (V50) when significant degradation of the mechanical properties of the extracted yarns was observed. These studies provided the basis for a validation data set in which we compared the experimentally measured V50 ballistic limit results to the theoretically predicted V50 results. The theoretical estimates were generally shown to provide a conservative prediction of the ballistic performance of the armor. This approach is promising for the development of a tool for fielded armor performance surveillance relying upon mechanical testing of armor coupon samples.


2016 ◽  
Vol 87 (3) ◽  
pp. 381-386 ◽  
Author(s):  
D Yang ◽  
X Chen

Angle-interlock woven fabric offers an option for making female body armor as it can form integrally the required dome shapes because of its extraordinary moldability and satisfactory ballistic performance. A mathematical model is created to determine the pattern geometry for the front panel of female body armor, and the front panel can be quickly created using this mathematical model. However, the body armor is multi-layer, which indicates that the relationship between the thickness of the fabric and the pattern block projection for different layers of fabric needs to be investigated, in order to create the whole panel, to improve this novel approach for making seamless female body armor with satisfactory ballistic performance.


Author(s):  
S. G. Kulkarni ◽  
X.-L. Gao ◽  
N. V. David ◽  
S. E. Horner ◽  
J. Q. Zheng

Protecting a soldier’s head from injury is critical to function and survivability. Traditionally, combat helmets have been utilized to provide protection against shrapnel and ballistic threats, which have reduced head injuries and fatalities. However, home-made bombs or improvised explosive devices (IEDs) have been increasingly used in theatre of operations since the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts. Traumatic brain injury (TBI), particularly blast-induced TBI, which is typically not accompanied by external body injuries, is becoming increasingly prevalent among injured soldiers. The response of personal protective equipment, especially combat helmets, to blast events is relatively unknown. There is an urgent need to develop head protection systems with blast protection/ mitigation capabilities in addition to ballistic protection. Modern military operations, ammunitions, and technology driven war tactics require a lightweight headgear that integrates protection mechanisms (against ballistics, blasts, heat, and noise), sensors, night vision devices, and laser range finders into a single system. The current paper provides a comparative study on the design, materials, ballistic and blast performance of the combat helmets used by the U.S. Army based on a comprehensive and critical review of existing studies. Mechanisms of ballistic energy absorption, effects of helmet curvatures on ballistic performance, and performance measures of helmets are discussed. Properties of current helmet materials (including Kevlar® K29 and K129 fibers, and thermoset resins) and future candidate materials for helmets (such as nano-composites, thermoplastic polymers, and carbon fibers) are elaborated. Also, experimental and computational studies on blast-induced TBI are examined, and constitutive models developed for brain tissues are reviewed. Finally, the effectiveness of current combat helmets against TBI is analyzed along with possible avenues for future research.


2018 ◽  
Vol 52 (23) ◽  
pp. 3241-3263 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zineb Benzait ◽  
Levent Trabzon

The development of personal protection systems with improved ballistic performance and reduced weight has received a great interest in the last decade with the unfortunate ever-increasing threats and conflicts. In this review, the ordinarily polymeric fibers used in body armors manufacturing were first reported, then some nanomaterials, such as carbon nanotubes and graphene with advanced structural and mechanical properties, as well as their potential reinforcement of armor composites were investigated through some recent studies available in the literature. Additionally, natural fibers integrated into multilayered armor systems, and ballistic tests which endorse their future importance were also cited. This short review which sheds light on novel materials used in personal armor systems, a specific and an important topic that was not previously reviewed, aims to provide to the new researchers, engineers and manufactures in this field some guidelines about what are the promising materials that can be used in order to construct the ultimate body armors of the future.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 20-27
Author(s):  
Yajing Miao ◽  
Dan Yang ◽  
Binjie Xin

In studies of ballistic impact, the materials used in body armor must have high hardness, light weight, fatigue resistance, corrosion resistance, and other high performance characteristics. Aramid fibers are widely used in anti-ballistic materials. To facilitate the further development of aramid materials, this study reviews aramid research in recent years and analyzes the main factors affecting, and new methods for optimizing, anti-ballistic performance, with the emphasis on bulletproof fabrics. This review provides suggestions for future research and use of aramid materials for anti-ballistic performance.


2011 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 18-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rick Dolphijn

Starting with Antonin Artaud's radio play To Have Done With The Judgement Of God, this article analyses the ways in which Artaud's idea of the body without organs links up with various of his writings on the body and bodily theatre and with Deleuze and Guattari's later development of his ideas. Using Klossowski (or Klossowski's Nietzsche) to explain how the dominance of dialogue equals the dominance of God, I go on to examine how the Son (the facialised body), the Father (Language) and the Holy Spirit (Subjectification), need to be warded off in order to revitalize the body, reuniting it with ‘the earth’ it has been separated from. Artaud's writings on Balinese dancing and the Tarahumaran people pave the way for the new body to appear. Reconstructing the body through bodily practices, through religion and above all through art, as Deleuze and Guattari suggest, we are introduced not only to new ways of thinking theatre and performance art, but to life itself.


Food Industry ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 71-78
Author(s):  
Ekaterina Minnikhanova ◽  
Nataliya Zavorokhina ◽  
Anna Gilina

Abstract The inclusion of polysaccharide thickeners in the recipes of sweet dishes increases the functional reserves of the body, contributes to the preservation of health and the prevention of diseases. The purpose of the research is to study the sensory characteristics of polysaccharides of various nature when combined with food acids, to develop a recipe for a basic mixture of low-calorie meals for public catering. The authors analyzed citric, lactic and succinic acids in combinations with polysaccharides of various nature. Organoleptic tests were evaluated by a touch panel. The organization of the tasting analysis corresponded to GOST ISO 6658-2016; the consistency was determined according to GOST 31986-2012, GOST ISO 11036-2017, GOST ISO 8588-2011. The optimal organoleptic combinations of the presented food acids and complex additives of sweeteners (CDP) were identified, which included aspartame, sodium saccharinate, Sucralose, sweetness coefficient – 340: the mixture with citric acid had a long pleasant aftertaste without foreign tastes and the best taste characteristics. Using the “A-not A” method, we found that the sample with the addition of CDP is identical to the sucrose solution. In the second part of the study, polysaccharides were added to model samples of acids with complex sweeteners; the best sensory characteristics were obtained by model samples consisting of a mixture of low-esterified Apple pectin with lactic acid and KDP. The technology of obtaining a stable elastic jelly using low-esterified Apple pectin has been developed, since the complex mixture of sweeteners and food acids does not have a dehydrating effect. Developed a dry mix recipe that can serve as a basic development, low-calorie sweet products for catering and has a variance of use of lactic and succinic acids, depending on the flavor characteristics of the raw materials used and its corrective ability.


2020 ◽  
Vol 86 ◽  
pp. 285-304
Author(s):  
Emilie Vannier

This paper concerns the architecture of formal burials from the La Tène period in north-western Gaul and southern Britain. The research focuses on the shape and dimensions of sepulchral pits containing inhumed or burnt human remains, on the different materials used for the internal elements, and the external constructions and structures covering, framing, or marking the burials. The study of these data exposes the preferred choices in the funerary architecture of Gallic and British communities during the last five centuries bc. The results reveal different regional funerary groups within three main cross-Channel zones according to the architectural elements of the graves and the main treatments of the body. The distinct characteristics of these groups highlight their common features and relationships with neighbouring areas of the Continental and Atlantic zones.


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