Body armour protection

A major use of Kevlar is in rigid and soft body armour protective applications. Kevlar fabric is bullet and fragment resistant, lightweight, flexible and comfortable, has excellent thermal properties, is resistant to cuts and chemicals and is flame resistant and self-extinguishing. The uses include bulletproof vests, chainsaw leg protection and military uses for helmets and armoured vehicles, cargo containers, armour shields and cockpit doors. 

Types of fibrous materials used for soft ballistic body armour protection... 

Boussu R, Maillet J. (2010) Innovative 3D textile structure for soft body armour protection , NATO Advanced Study Institute Defence Related Intelligent Textiles and Clothing for Ballistic and NBC (Nuclear, Biological, Chemical) Protection , Split, Croatia, 6-16 April 2010. 

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. 

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

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. 

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

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. 

A ballistic panel can be made from a single ballistic material or from two or more materials in combination. Where more than one ballistic fibre is used, the vest is often referred to as a hybrid . The location and number of layers of each material within the multiple-layer protective panel ate critical to the overall performance of the panel. If a manufacturer uses insufficient ballistic material, the body armour will offer insufficient protection. It is thus indispensable that sufficient material and a suitable margin of safety be incorporated into well-designed, properly manufactured body armour (McConnell, 2006). 

In order to better protect and fit the body armour vest on a female form, a new 3D design technique has been used. This darts rotation technique helps reduce the number of protective para-aramid fabric layers required for the vest and allows a... 

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