Body armour

Mackenzie went with the tactical teams that would target the windmill itself The day was settling mto dusk as the cars and vans canying poBce oflbers in body armour neared... 

Pangolin skin is covered with overlapping scales of keratin, coloured fium yellow to brown. They are attached to the skin in a way that allows great freedom of movement. By sewing the scales onto a fiibric tunic in a fashion that copied the way they are attached to the animal, they could act as a type of body armour. This was used by the Dyaks in Borneo in the 1800s. 

Protective clothing - body armour - part 2 Bullet resistance requirements and test methods. ISO Standard ISO/FDIS 14876-2, International Organization for Standardization, Geneva, Switzerland, 2002. 

Thermal insulation pads, glass handling jaws, vacuum pump insulators, fixture,s and components in X-ray equipment, asbestos replacement, antenna insulators, precision crystal holders, abrasion resistance piece tools, body armour, other low load-bearing structural components. 

Modem body armour falls into two categories hard body armour and soft body armour. Hard body armour is made of metal or ceramic plates. Soft body armour mainly consists of layers of fabric made of high performance fibres. Soft body armour... 

Understanding ballistic threats is essential in engineering protective and lightweight body armour. The materials for body armour design should meet a number of requirements ... 

Materials must be durable, makiug sure that the perfonnauce of body armour does not degrade under adverse conditions, such as moisture or UV hght. 

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are allotropes of carbon with a cylindrical nanostructure. They have a Young s modulus within the range 270-950GPa, a tensile strength of 11-63 GPa,and a density of 1.3-1.4g/cm Their outstanding mechanical properties originate from the covalent bond between the adjacent carbon atoms, which enables this material to be used for the fabrication of the next generation of body armour. 

The unidirectional (UD) construction was first used in soft body armour for the chest and helmet by air crewmen in the Second World War and was reintroduced by AlliedSignal with the UHMWPE fibre Spectra in the mid-1980s. The unidirectional technology is based on the idea of combining the cross-plied filaments with an elastomeric matrix in a laminated systan. Fig. 6.7 shows a four-plied unidirectional system laminated by two films. Other companies, such as DSM and Park Technologies, also provide similar fabrics for personnel protection. 

Experimental work is based on the data obtained from ballistic tests and is an integral part of soft body armour engineering. From a research point of view, results from the experimental tests and observations not only directly indicate the performance and usability of materials in ballistic applications, but provide empirical data to test the validity of the theories that are put forward in this field as well. This section will list the methods and approaches adopted to study fabric response and evaluate its performance upon ballistic impact. 

Although there are numerous approaches for performance improvement, one thing is certain body amour will become lighter, stronger, more durable, and more comfortable. In addition, body armour is expected to be multifunctional. For instance, the All-Purpose Enviromnental Clothing System (APECS) used by US Marines is able swiftly to respond to the ambient environment and adjust the temperature for its wearers. Another imperative trend for body armour is that the design is required to... 

Visiongain. The military body armour and personal protective gear market 2012-2022. New York Visiongain 2012. 

Chen X, Yang D. Use of 3D angle-interlock woven fabric for seamless female body armour. Part II Mathematical modelling. Tex/Rei / 2010 80(15) 1589-1601. 

Chen X, Zhu F, Wells G. An analytical model for ballistic impact on textile based body armour. Compos B Eng 2013 45 1508-14. 

Cunniff PM, Ting J. Decoupled response of textile body armour. In Proceedings of the 18th International Symposium on Ballistics. San Antonio, Texas, USA 1999. p. 814—21. Abiru S, Lizuka K. Bulletproof fabric and process for its production. US Patent, Toyo Boseki Kabushiki Kaisha US 1999. 

Rincon P. Super-strong body armour in sight. BBC News, 23 October 2007. 

The Police Scientific Development Branch (PSDB) body armour standards for UK police (2003) provide three protection levels, so that the wearers have a choice based on the nature of the risk. Table 7.2 shows the requiranents of various energy levels required to withstand different protection levels. ... 

Crimes involving knives are increasing in the UK, with the knife being the most commonly used weapon, at 32%. The need for better slash resistant materials is therefore increasing, as the body armours currently worn by security and protective services personnel do not protect the arms, shoulders, neck, and face, as they are very rigid and too heavy to be worn comfortably over long periods of time. 

Bleetman A, Watson CH, Horsfall I, Champion SM. Wounding patterns and human performance in knife attacks optimising the protection provided by knife-resistant body armour. J Clin Forensic Med 2003 10(4) 243-8. 

Croft J. PSDB body armour standards for UK police. St Albans Home Office Police Scientific Development Branch 2003. 

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