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Survivability assessment of a soldier wearing a ballistic helmet collided by a non-penetrating high speed projectile

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Abstract

Since combat capability depends on the survivability of a soldier, it is important to estimate the survivability properly. Head and neck injuries are major incidents that affect the survivability in battle field. Although a soldier usually wears a ballistic helmet, he can be injured by a ballistic impact which results in the deformation and energy propagation of the helmet. Previous research activities focused on the head injury only. In this study, a finite element model including the neck as well as head was developed using LS-DYNA. It consists of a skull, brain, cerebrospinal fluid, cervical vertebrae, neck muscle, helmet, and bullet. The helmet consists of a shell and interior cushion system. The bullet speeds of 250, 360, 410 and 460 m/s were used for the simulation. The pressure of the brain and von Mises stress/ strain of the skull and brain were calculated. Head and neck injury criteria were used to assess the survivability of a soldier. Effects of firearm type on head and neck injuries were also investigated. Generally, the head injury turned out to be more dangerous than the neck injury under the same condition. Among firearms, the riffle type turned out to be generally much more dangerous than the pistol type.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Hanyang University, Seoul, Korea

    Moon Jeong Kang & Hong Hee Yoo

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  1. Moon Jeong Kang
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  2. Hong Hee Yoo
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Correspondence to Hong Hee Yoo.

Additional information

Recommended by Associate Editor Seungbum Koo

Moon Jeong Kang received her B.S. degree in the Department of Mechanical Engineering in Hanyang University, Seoul, Korea in 2012. She is working as a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Mechanical Engineering in Hanyang University, Seoul, Korea. Her research interests include biomechanics and multibody dynamics.

Hong Hee Yoo received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in the Department of Mechanical Design in Seoul National University in 1980 and 1982. He received his Ph.D. degree in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics in the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor in 1989. He is a Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Hanyang University, Seoul, Korea. His research interests include multi-body dynamics, structural vibration and statistical uncertainty analysis in mechanics.

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Kang, M.J., Yoo, H.H. Survivability assessment of a soldier wearing a ballistic helmet collided by a non-penetrating high speed projectile. J Mech Sci Technol 32, 2425–2433 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-018-0455-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-018-0455-7

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