WHY BALLISTIC TESTING METHODS OF BODY ARMOR DO NOT GIVE US ACCURATE INFORMATION | ||||
| The International Conference on Applied Mechanics and Mechanical Engineering | ||||
| Article 12, Volume 15, 15th International Conference on Applied Mechanics and Mechanical Engineering., May 2012, Page 1-10 PDF (586.77 K) | ||||
| Document Type: Original Article | ||||
| DOI: 10.21608/amme.2012.36907 | ||||
 View on SCiNiTO | ||||
| Author | ||||
| B. G. Genov | ||||
| Head expert, Ph.D., Dept. of Armaments, Technics and Equipment Development, Defense Institute, Sofia, Republic of Bulgaria. | ||||
| Abstract | ||||
| ABSTRACT Manufacturers and especially the users of ballistic protection systems need an adequate answer to the question whether the chosen protection is effective against specific threats. Such evaluation is difficult enough, mainly because ballistic systems of body armors are high technology products and they embody last achievements in technology and science. The the only verified and reliable method for effectiveness assessment of needed ballistic protection from different threats (bullets, fragments, explosions, stab protection, etc.), is ballistic test. The bullet resistance is maybe most important feature of body armors. And the more often used method for assssment of ballistic protection level is determined by series 0101 NIJ Standards: the body armor, mounted on plasticine block is hitted by different caliber ammo and at one side there hasn’t to be penetration, and at other hand the blunt trauma hasn’t to exceed 44 mm. These should guarantee body armor ballistic protection rate. Other “plasticine” based ballistic testing standards have same imperfections, because they origin from 0101 series of NIJ Standards. This scenario for bullet resistance testing is needed for general reconstruction: the plasticine has a quite different properties in comparison with different areas of human body; the measured value of penetration has only static component – lack of correspondence with real situations, dynamic component (impact wave propagation, character of wave, etc.) isn’t included; and last but not least this criteria for highspeed (rifle) bullets never has been compared with human/animal corpses results. These imperfections of the scenario specify the goal of this paper – to summarize main problems related with this scenario of testing and to provide some directions to improve testing methodology. | ||||
| Keywords | ||||
| ballistic protection; bullet resistance; Body armor; ballistic testing standards | ||||
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