A COMPARATIVE EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF IMPACT DAMPING USING HIGHLY COMPRESSIBLE POROUS MATERIALS IMBIBED WITH FLUIDS

Abstract

An innovative solution for damping of residual energy after the impact of a bullet on a protective vest, based on the flow of a fluid through a porous material that is placed under the protective Kevlar layers, has been recently proposed. The fluid flow through the open pores is produced by the compression of the porous material, during impact, i.e. the deformation of the Kevlar layer under the impact with the bullet. The simulation of the impact is done using a pendulum test rig that with a spherical cap. The acceleration and force under impact is analyzed on the impacted body that is protected by the porous material. Combinations of candidate porous materials and fluids were tested. The comparison is done in terms of peak-acceleration and peak-force but also in combination with the thickness and the porosity of the material. The best combination of porous material and fluid was determined. The experiments were also focused on the evaluation of various sealing (encapsulating) membranes necessary for bulletproof application.