Contemporary Personal Ballistic Protection (PBP)

Abstract

The review concerns existing contemporary protective equipment and their components serving against ballistic and non-ballistic threats of different sorts. The main focus, however, is on the personal ballistic protection (PBP) based on textile components and their role in the protective elements. Soft ballistic protections are crucial Soft ballistic protections are crucial elements of PBP, for example in military and law enforcements. Although the subject of PBP was limited in this chapter to soft ballistic protection, other elements, e.g. hard ballistic protection, stab-resistant vests, dual threat, so-called in-conjunction protective elements, modern helmets, were also mentioned in this chapter to demonstrate positioning of the soft ballistic protection and other elements in the global personal protection approach. Apart from it, the chapter contains selected information concerning high-performance polymers and fibres as well as a brief notes about their application in protective panels being basic elements of any protective element. The final remarks concern the most up-to-date approach in relation to ballistic protection, which is immersing high-performance fibres into non-Newtonian liquid substances having the ability of ordering their chemical particles and changing into a high concentration and high segregation lattice under the influence of kinetic energy impact.

Fragment-Resistant Property Optimization within Ballistic Inserts Obtained on the Basis of Para-Aramid Materials

“…For this reason, it is intended to be worn for an extended daily routine, for several hours. Soft inserts are typically constructed of multiple layers of ballistic-resistant materials [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]. The number of layers in soft ballistic inserts may impact their overall performance, which means the ability to absorb the energy of projectiles.…”

“…In turn, hard inserts are made of rigid panels or plates. Hard ballistic armors may be constructed from compressed laminate sheets, ceramics, metals, or hybrid composites that incorporate more than one material [ 1 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 ]. Hard armors are designed to protect against greater threats (with a projectile velocity of more than 500 m/s) than soft armor [ 8 ].…”

Testing the ballistic resistance of composite materials

“…With regard to the development of firearms and ammunition, the demands on the ballistic resistance of these equipments against ballistic threats are increasing. In many cases the level of ballistic resistance is dependent on the weight of ballistic protection, which in turn affects the mobility of the subject on the battlefield [2][3][4][5].…”

“…Metal materials such as steels, aluminium alloys, titanium alloys and non-metallic materials based on ceramics and ballistic resistant textiles and their combinations are most commonly used for ballistic protection [2,4,6,7]. The efficiency of ballistic materials depends on the method of processing materials, the structure and its properties [5,6]. The steels used for ballistic protection are characterised by a number of advantages.…”