Ballistic Protection

Md. Shahjalal
Lecturer(Textile Engineering)
Northern University Bangladesh
[email protected]
[email protected]
 Reference book

Richard Scott (Ed.)

Textiles for Protection
Woodhead Publishing Ltd
 Topics
• Introduction to body armours
• Requirements on modern body armours
• Fibres for body armours
• Construction of ballistic body armours
• Functions of body armours
• Test of body armours
• Female body armour
• Comfort of body armour
Introduction to Body Armours
History of Body Armour
Chain mail

Metal

Leather
History of Body Armour
During the Korean War
(1950s) it was realised that
most battlefield injuries were
sustained from shrapnel (bomb
fragments).

http://www.nps.gov/elro/images/nara_koreanwar-marine.jpg
http://www.thevietnam-database.co.uk/Usmc/Mfrag.htm

It was found that casualties could be

reduced by issuing “flak jackets” made
from multi-layer high tenacity nylon fabric.
Protective
Textiles
(Ballistic)
 Protective Textile Materials
• What are protective textiles?
– Protective textiles are designed to protect
personnel who work in a dangerous
environment from being harmed or to reduce
the possibility of being hurt.
• Who are the users?
– Soldiers, policemen and women, security
guards, and so on.
 Types of Protective Textiles

• For military force

– Combat body armour
– Combat helmet
– Others: uniforms, hosiery, underwear, shirting
• For police force
– Body armour
– Helmet
– Limb protector
– Gloves, etc
• Others
THE IDEAL BODY ARMOUR!

T
Requirements on Modern Body
Armours
 Major Requirements for
Military Protection
• Physical requirements
– Durability to prolonged exposure to inclement weather and
heavy wear
• Environmental requirements
– Water repellence, wind proof, insect proof
• Physiological requirements
– Comfort, low weight, easy to wear
• Battlefield requirements
– Ballistic protection, flame resistance, resistance to chemical
and biological agents, resistance to long range thermal
effects of nuclear weapons, good camouflage and low noise
generation
 Major Requirements for Police
Protection
• Physiological requirements
– Comfort, low weight, easy to put on and take
off, mobility
• Protective requirements
– Ballistic protection, energy absorption against
impact, protection against stabbing
 Ballistic Protection
• Threat against
– Projectiles with various shape, size, and impact
velocity
• Principles
– Absorb energy of the projectile through stretching and
breaking the yarns in different layers and by
overcoming the friction between projectile and fibre
– Dissipate energy to other yarns through the cross-
over point of fabrics
• Plain weave is mainly used for fabric construction
 Fabrics and Body Armours
• Fabrics
– Plain woven (mostly), c.f. yarn with minimal
level of twist
• Armours
– Layered: 7 – 50 layers
– Stitched: quilting lines or squares, to remain a
degree of flexibility
– With water proof cover: as moisture and UV
light can reduce the ballistic performance
 Ballistic Protective Helmet
• Mainly made from Kevlar and Glass
woven fabrics
• Formation of head shape
– Pattern cutting
– Patching
• Problems
– Weight vs protection
 Protection Mechanisms of Soft
Body Armour

• Fibre fracture
– The stronger is the fibre the better protection the body
armour provides
• Fibre/yarn slippage
– This helps the projectile penetrate the fabric when
hitting between two yarn strands
• Yarn pulling out
– If the yarns are not rooted in the fabric well enough,
pulling out of yarn leads to indentation towards body.
Fibres for Body Armour
 Fibres for Ballistic Protection
• Aramid
–  = 1.44 g/cm3
– Kevlar (Du Pont)
– Twaron (Akzo Nobel, now Teijin)
– Technora (Teijin)
• Polyethylene
–  = 0.97 g/cm3; melting point = 150°C only
– Spectra (Allied Signal, now Honeywell)
– Dyneema (DSM, the Netherlands)
• Others
– Zylon (PBO) (Toyobo) – fibre degrades by
hydrolysis in warm and moist conditions -
withdrawn
– Nylon
 Textile Fibres Vs. Steel
Ballistic Protection

Property Steel Ballistic Kevlar Dyneema

wire nylon 29 SK60
Tensile 4000 2100 3400 2700
strength (MPa)
Modulus 18 4.5 93 89
(MPa)
Elongation (%) 1.1 19.0 3.5 3.5

Density 7.86 1.14 1.44 0.97

(g/cm3)
Different Types of Kevlar Fibres
Kevlar Type Characteristics
Kevlar 29 720D, 1000D, 1500D
Kevlar 49 1420D, 2840D
Kevlar 68 Medium type between 29 and 49
Kevlar 100 Coloured Kevlar
Kevlar 119 High durable
Kevlar 129 High tenacity
Kevlar Protera High tenacity, High absorption
Kevlar 149 Ultra high modulus
The first aramid fibre (Kevlar) was
introduced by DuPont in the 1970s.

The performance-to-weight ratios are

far higher for Kevlar than for nylon
fabrics.

Jackets could now be used to protect

against direct impact by a bullet.
Since the 1970s the
performance of aramids has
been further improved and
this has led to far greater
performance-to-weight ratios.
 http://www.dupont.com/kevlar/pdfs/Kevlar_vests_helmets.pdf

Improvements have also been achieved by using

finer weaves. However, coarser fabrics may still be
used on grounds of cost.
More recently, PBO (polyphenylenebenzobisoxazole)
fibre was introduced by Toyobo. The fibres (Tradenamed
Zylon) are far stronger than Kevlar but have been shown
to have problems with degradation.
A new fibre (M5) is under development in the United States.
Kevlar is particularly sensitive to UV
degradation so a conventional cover fabric is
also used. This can often be camouflaged as
Kevlar is not dyeable.
Construction of Ballistic Body
Armours
 Types of Body Armour

Soft body armour: from

Hard body armour: from high performance fibres eg
ceramics, plastics and metal Kevlar, Dyneema, Spectra
plates etc
Soft armour is more textile-like
and therefore more comfortable. It
protects well against low to
medium velocity projectiles.
http://www.softair.arcoefrecce.it/detail.asp?Codice=11897
Hard armour protects against high velocity
projectiles but is far less comfortable. It is usually
a composite material perhaps incorporating a
ceramic plate.
http://www.securityandsafetysupply.com/products-body-armor/images/ALPHA_big.JPG
Often hard armour is used in
conjunction with soft armour,
especially to confer modularity (i.e.
modules that can be added in cases of
enhanced threat)
Design of Ballistic Body Armour
• Functions of body armours
– protection against projectile penetration and
– protection against the blunt trauma
• Design procedure
– identifying the threat,
– selecting a material or combination of materials, and
– determining the number of layers of material
necessary to prevent both penetration and blunt
trauma injury
• Requirements
– protection, light-weight, comfort
 Two General Designs
• Covert vest is concealable vest, which is
used under a shirt with Velcro/elastic
fastening.
• Overt vests are worn over the uniform,
heavier in weight, do not wash easily and
dry quickly.
Covert Vests
Overt Vests
Typical Layered Structure of Body
Armour
 Aramids

Ultra High Molecular

Weight Polyethylene
Flat filament yarns with no twist
Typical Kevlar fabrics:

6.7 x 6.7 threads per centimetre

1670 decitex continuous filament yarn
23 x 23 threads per centimetre
230 decitex continuous filament yarn
Mechanism for Body Armour
Protection
 Protection Methods
• Modern body armours provides ballistic
protection by in two different ways:

(a) the armour totally rejects the projectile by

bouncing it off; and

(b) the armour retards and stops the projectiles

by dissipating the kinetic energy along plane
of the impacted material.
Fabric Structures for Ballistics
 Principle
The principle behind the body armour
protection is the rapid conversion and
dissipation of the kinetic energy from a
striking bullet to strain energy of the
ballistic body armour system.
There are many types of wave but in
ballistics we are usually concerned with two:

Longitudinal Wave
Transverse Wave
Transverse wave

Longitudinal wave
Roylance D K et al. Ballistic Impact of Textile Structures.
Text. R. J. 1973:43(1)
The longitudinal wave velocity (c) is dependant on the
textile modulus.

c = (ET)0.5

c = Longitudinal wave velocity

ET = Textile Modulus

Therefore, the longitudinal wave velocity

increases with increased textile modulus.
Thus, materials with high tensile moduli have
higher longitudinal wave velocities.

This leads to lower strains at the impact point as

strain is spread along the yarn more evenly.
Similarly, the transverse wave velocity
increases with increased textile modulus.
However, the relation is much more complex.

During the impact process projectile momentum

is transferred to the fabric undergoing
transverse deformation. Maximising the area
undergoing transverse deformation maximises
ballistic performance. Therefore, high
transverse wave velocities are desirable for this
reason.
Ballistically, Kevlar is superior to nylon
because

(1) it is has a high strength; and

(2) the high tensile modulus

which lead to wider distribution of strain

and spread the transverse deformation
away from the point of impact.
 Nylon Kevlar

Transverse deformations travel faster in Kevlar than nylon.

Longitudinal deformations also travel faster for Kevlar.
The following pictures were taken
using a multiple-flash back-lighting
system to produce four superimposed
images.

The photographs were taken with the

camera pointing along the fabric
plane.
Nylon Kevlar
The following video clips show the
transversal and longitudinal waves
caused by the ballistic impact.
BALLISTIC TESTING
 Protection Mechanisms of Soft
Body Armour

• Fibre fracture
– The stronger is the fibre the better protection the body
armour provides
• Fibre/yarn slippage
– This helps the projectile penetrate the fabric when
hitting between two yarn strands
• Yarn pulling out
– If the yarns are not rooted in the fabric well enough,
pulling out of yarn leads to indentation towards body.
Fibre is of course the most important
factor affecting the protection. This is not
to be discussed here.

Our interest is how to construct the fabric

assembly to achieve better protection
against ballistic impact.
 Evaluation of Protection
Impact energy loss was used to indicate the level
of protection.

More energy loss suggests a more effective fabric

assembly for ballistic protection.

Energy loss = m(v02 – v12)/2

Fabric Structure
1. Aramid better
than Nylon;
2. Woven better
than weft
knitted
Yarn Breakage vs Structure

16

14
Number of yarns broken

12

10 Woven fabric
8 Woven fabric
6 Weft knitted fabric

0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
Position in fabric expressed as the
cumulative areal density of the
preceeding layers (kg m -2)
 Fabric Squareness, S

Definition:

S = min (n1T1/ n2T2, n2T2 / n1T1)

Squareness, Areal Density vs
Energy
90
80 167 tex weft,
Projectile energy loss (J)

70 S = 1.00
60
23 tex weft,
50 S = 0.27
40
30 23 tex weft,
S = 0.45
20
10
0
0 2 4 6
Multi-layer areal density (kg m -2)

Warp yarn linear density 167 tex

Squareness, Areal Density vs
Energy

Warp yarn linear density 167 tex

 Squareness, Areal Density vs
Energy
90
80
Projectile energy loss (J)

70
60 23 tex fabric,
S = 0.97
50
40 167 tex fabric,
30 S= 1.00

20
10
0
0 1 2 3
Multi-layer areal density (kg m -2)

14 October 2009
 How to Reduce Yarn Slippage
• Increase warp and weft density
• Use untwisted yarns
• Use tight weave structure – plain is the
tightest
• Employ special weaves – leno weave has
locking effect (can be used as component
layers)
 Yarn Pulling Out

In some cases penetration can occur

without yarn being broken
Yarn mobility towards the impact zone can also be
important for the dynamics of impact.
 A Leno
Structure
One solution to limit yarn mobility in
fabric is to reduce the fabric width and
gripping on the two selvedge.

Narrow woven fabrics are chosen in

one research, and the work has
demonstrated good results .
 1.8

Multi-layer areal density required to prevent

1.6

1.4

penetration (kg m -2)

1.2
Gripped
1.0

0.8
Not gripped
0.6

0.4

0.2

0.0
0 10 20 30
Fabric width (cm)

Reducing fabric width and gripping on two sides

reduces the fabric required to prevent penetration
A Potential Problem
One solution is to offset strips in different layers but the
joins still have a negative effect on overall ballistic
performance.
Back Face of Impacted Assembly
 Ballistic Test Results

Body armour mass reduction by

using narrow fabric assembly
Impact velocity (m/s) Weight reduction (%)
400 31
500 6
 Ballistic Test Results

Engineering panel mass reduction by

using narrow fabric assembly

Impact velocity (m/s) Weight reduction (%)

400 63

500 24
Body Armour Testing
 Body Armour Protection
• We have a low calibre ballistic-range
– Projectile mass = 1.06 g maximum
– Impact velocity = 520 m/s
– Impact energy = 143 J
• Research focus
– Fabric structure vs protection
– Fabric assemble vs protection
– Fibre vs protection
– Design vs protection
AN ALTERNATIVE (but not
recommended) METHOD
 NIJ Test Methods

• NIJ - National Institute of Justice

• The NIJ standard for personal body
armour has gained worldwide
acceptance as a benchmark to judge
the effectiveness of a given body
armour model.
• In response, NIJ is reaching out to the
international community in a co-
operative effort for the development of
future revisions of the standard.
NIJ – National Institute of Justice
 More on NIJ Standard (1)
• The NIJ method is a fail/pass test for
ballistic panels and garments
• Various types of ammunition are fired at
the garment at various velocities to see if
they penetrate
• A block of clay mounted behind the fabric
simulates the human body
 More on NIJ Standard (2)
• The garment passes if it is not penetrated
and the depression left in the backing clay
is not too large
• Back face deformations are important as
wearers of body armour can be injured by
blunt trauma
• Armour is classified according to the threat
it protects against
 Body Armour Classification
• Type I - Type I body armour is light. This is the minimum level of
protection every wearer should have.
• Type IIA - Type II-A body armour is well suited for full-time use
by police departments.
• Type II - Type II body armour is heavier, more bulky and more
protective than Types I and II-A.
• Type IIIA - Type III-A body armour provides the highest level of
protection currently available from concealable body armour and
is generally suitable for routine wear in many situations.
• Type III - Type III body armour is clearly intended only for
tactical situations when the threat warrants such protection .
• Type IV - Type IV body armour provides the highest level of protection
currently available.
FMJ RN – Full Metal Jacket (Round nosed)
SJHP - Soft Jacket Hollow-Point
 FMJ RN

SJHP
http://www.usabodyarmor.com/body_armor_products.htm
http://www.usabodyarmor.com/body_armor_products.htm
Types III and IV Bullets

AP – Armour Piercing FMJ – Full metal Jacket

JSP – Jacketed Soft Point LRHV – Long Rifle High Velocity

RN – Round Nose SWC – Semi-Wadcutter

Ballistic Test
Set-up
Recommended Target Strikes

Test ammunition shot series Optional second ammunition

shot series
 .357 round after
9mm round after striking body armour
striking body armour

9mm
.357 Magnum
 Summarises the ballistic test variables
and the performance requirements
Test variables Performance requirements

Armour Test Test Nominal Min. required Required Max. depth Required
type round ammunition bullet mass bullet fair hits at of fair hits at
(grams) velocity 0º angle of deformation 30º angle of
(m/s) incidence (mm) incidence
I 1 38 Special 10.2 259 4 44 2
RN Lead
2 22 LRHV 2.6 320 4 44 2
Lead
II-A 1 37 Magnum 10.2 381 4 44 2
JSP

2 9 mm 8.0 332 4 44 2
FMJ
II 1 37 Magnum 10.2 425 4 44 2
JSP

2 9 mm 8.0 358 4 44 2
FMJ
III-A 1 44 Magnum 15.55 426 4 44 2
Lead SWC
Gas Checked
2 9 mm 8.0 426 4 44 2
FMJ
III 7.62 mm 9.7 838 6 44 0
FMJ
IV 30-06 10.8 868 1 44 0
AP
Thickness and Protection Level
of Body Armour
Number of layers (thickness) Protection level

16 – 20 layers of Kevlar Level II-A

20 – 24 layers of Kevlar Level II

24 – 28 layers of Kevlar Level III-A

1/4" Steel Level III

1/2" Steel Level IV

 V50 Test

http://assist.daps.dla.mil/docimages/0000/90/82/662.PD0
The V50 ballistic limit velocity
for a material is defined as
that velocity for which the
probability of penetration of
the chosen projectiles is
exactly 0.5.
V50 = Velocity at which 50% of projectiles of a
defined type are defeated by the armour
The V50 is a generic test methods.
Different organisations or
countries might choose different
projectiles (bullets), different areal
densities and different pass/fail
criteria.
21 October 2010
Lab work on 4 November 2010, A27 SSB – Dr Ying Wang
Female Body Armour
 Female Body Armour

We are also
carrying out
research on the
construction and
protection of
female body
armours – with
fibre continuity.
Female Body Armour
Female Body Armour
Measurement for Male Body
Armour
Measurement for Female Body
Armour
Comfort of Body Armour
 Comfort in Body Armour

• Although it protects better

nowadays, the body
armour is still VERY
uncomfortable to wear
• We seek to improve the
air conductivity to gain
better comfort for wearing
the body armour
 Comfort against Time
30 30 30

28 28 28

26 26 26

24 24 24

22 22 22

20 20 20

0 minute s 10 minute s 20 minute s

30 30 30

28 28 28

26 26 26

24 24 24

22 22 22

20 20 20

0 minute s 10 minute s 20 minute s

 Concept, CFD Analysis, and
Weaving
Top Layer
Centre Layer
HEIGHT
Bottom Layer

Cross-section
Weft yarns
Body armour comfort
Limb Protectors
Usefulness of Protection
 Not Good Enough
• The current versions of limb protectors use
polyurethane foam as core material for
energy absorption.
• It has been reported that police officers
are still hurt.
• Alternatives needed.
 Seeking for Alternatives
- possibilities
• Hard impactor on hard solid surfaces
– Impactor bouncing back, energy reflected
– Possible for PPE (needing to be lightweight too)
• Hard impactor on solid plastic surface
– Surface indented, force transmitted, some energy
absorbed
• Hard impactor on cellular damping materials
– Energy absorbed by structural deformation, force
attenuated
– Possible for PPE (design important)
 Cellular Structure for Protection
• How impact energy is absorbed
– Structural deformation
– Structural collapse
• Personal protection
– The structure should deform/collapse just before the
transmitted force reaches the uncomfortable level
– Too early (e.g. foam) or too late (e.g. metal) will not
make the cellular structure protective
• We choose textile composite (property
designable)
Design of Honeycomb composite

Fimpact

Ftransmitted < threshold force for discomfort

Ftransmitted
Honeycomb
Composites
An Instron dynatup
impactor - 8200
 1
8L3P60
0.9

Experimental
8L4P60
0.8 8L5P60

0.7 8L6P60

Curves
Transmitted Force (kN)

0.6

0.5

0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1 0.9
8L3P60
0
0.8
0 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 8L4P60
Time (s)
0.7 8L5P60

8L6P60
0.6
Contact Force (kN)

0.5

0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1

0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5

Displacement (cm)
FE Analysis
 Comparison
foam vs honeycomb
 Data Reading

c d e
 Bone may
Comparison Analysis fracture at 2.5kN
Transmitted Force in N (impact energy 45 J)
Hand Node ‘a’ Node ‘b’ Node ‘c’ Node ‘d’ Node ‘e’ Total
thrown Strain
missiles Energy
Wooden 1818.7 2281.44 942.55 3206.49 3432.84 21.15
(Arnold
12mm)
Wooden 1284.87 1445.54 1318.62 1759.23 1759.23 21.12
(Arnold
18mm)
Wooden 363.86 334.73 352.52 932.40 932.40 26.97
(UoM
18mm)
 Riot Helmet
• Two types of helmet shell used
– Thermoplastic
– Composite (multi-piece textiles)
• HOSDB promotes composite shell as it
performs better
• We work to produce shells from single
piece textile for even better performance
We made the shell
 FE Analysis
based on flat panels

Plastic Strain e31 (%) 42.0

MP20

31.0 MP30

MP40
20.0
MP50

9.0 SP

-2.0
20J 50J 80J 110J

Impact Energy (J)

 Comparison of strain
distribution between
multi-piece shell and
single-piece shell

Discontinuous
reinforcement
 Plastic strain
distribution between
the multi-piece and
single-piece shells

Discontinuous
reinforcement