HUMAN BODY MODEL RIB RESPONSE TO SOFT AND HARD ARMOR BALLISTIC LOADING

Abstract

Personal body armor back-face dynamics are the driving force for behind armor blunt trauma. The potential timing for blunt force rib fracture was investigated using finite element analyses of soft and hard armor impacts against anterolateral ribs of a human body model. Armor back-face dynamics were acquired from experiments using soft and hard armor backed by gelatin and clay, respectively. Analysis of the simulations identified fracture-level maximum principal strain magnitudes for cortical rib tissue at times that were within the first tenth of the event and over 20 mm short of the peaks armor back-face displacement. These findings suggest early armor back-face dynamics play a role in blunt force injury outcome.