Does quilting improve the fragment protective performance of body armour?

Abstract

The primary function of military body armour is to provide protection from fragmenting munitions and improvised explosive devices (IEDs). This is usually achieved by the use of multiple layers of woven para-aramid fabric. The resulting body armour is heavy and contributes to the burden on the dismounted soldier. Reduction in body armour mass and hence thermophysiological loading without reducing the level of protection is therefore of interest worldwide. Many manufacturers quilt the fabric component of body armour which reportedly improves fragment protective performance, however, the topic does not appear to have been explored thoroughly. In this work a preliminary study on the effect of quilting on the fragment protective performance of a commercially available woven para-aramid fabric is reported. The fragment protective performance of specimens varying in construction (1, 2, 3 and 5 layers) with three quilting regimes (no quilting, diamond quilting, square quilting) is presented and analysed.

Armours for soft bodies: how far can bioinspiration take us?

“…The weave of the fabric provides the similar interactions as the lateral crosslinking in mammalian dermis while the quilt-stitching replicates at least a portion of the transverse linkages. In fact, quilt-stitching was shown to increase the energy absorption in fragment impacts 14%-22% over non-quilted armours [54].…”

An integrated approach towards future ballistic neck protection materials selection

“…The purpose of the soft component of military body armour is to defeat explosively propelled fragments or to significantly reduce their energy to minimise wounding potential. 5 Unlike body armour issued to police officers, stab resistance and low-velocity hand gun bullets are not threats which military soft body armour is designed to defeat. Soft body armour is composed of multiple components, of which the ballistic protective fabric is only a part of ( Table 1).…”

“…The performance of soft armour is typically measured using steel fragment simulating projectiles (FSPs). 5 The most commonly used FSP remains the 1.10 g chisel-nosed cylinder (Figure 2), which was originally based on fragment masses produced from a 155 mm artillery shell; however, it has been shown to represent the heterogenous shapes of fragments found in improvised explosive devices (IEDs). Steel spheres are commonly found in preformed fragmenting munitions; research suggests that these should also be used for testing as this shape of fragments has been demonstrated in significant proportions in UK soldiers sustaining neck wounds from explosively propelled fragments.…”

“…The performance of soft armour is typically measured using steel fragment simulating projectiles (FSPs). 5 The most commonly used FSP remains the 1.10 g chisel-nosed cylinder (Figure 2), which was originally based on fragment masses produced from a 155 mm artillery shell; however, it has been shown to represent the heterogenous shapes of fragments found in improvised explosive devices 21 Comparisons of the ballistic properties of different body armour materials are commonly made by the use of the V 50 , the velocity at which the stated projectile is expected to be stopped by the stated armour 50% of the time. 20,[22][23][24]…”

Figural Creativity, Creative Potential and Personality among Taiwanese Fashion Design Undergraduates

“…The diamond stitched pattern has better movement of fabric control and hence higher puncture resistance properties than other stitching patterns. Carr DJ [7] found that the amount of energy absorbed during ballistic impacts for diamond quilted was 14% and 22% higher compared to non-quilted and square quilted depending on the number of fabric layers.…”