Effect of Various Backing Materials on BABT in Ballistic Evaluation of Body Armour

Abstract

Body armour is being worn by law enforcement agencies and military personnel for protection against ballistic threats. The two key protection parameters for body armour are resistance to complete penetration by a projectile and limited behind armour blunt trauma (BABT), a non-penetrating injury which results when armour is pushed against the body wall during bullet impact. This paper compares the efficacy of various backing materials used in measurement of BABT viz. Roma Plastilina No. 1 (RP#1), a mineral based sculpting clay; Blunt Trauma Torso Rig (BTTR), a biofidelic simulant based test fixture; Ballistic Gelatin, a human muscle tissue simulant. An optimum number of layers of Kevlar woven fabric ballistic material were taken to correlate BABT obtained in various backing materials using 9mm ammunition at different velocities. BABT values obtained in RP#1, BTTR and Ballistic Gelatin were found to be comparable. A correlation factor is suggested for measurement of BABT depending upon the backing material to correlate the test results obtained in various ballistic test laboratories even when different backing materials are employed.