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Behind Shield Blunt Trauma: Characterizing the Back-Face Deformation of Shields with a Focus on Upper Limb Loading

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Abstract

Shield back-face deformation (BFD) is the result of composite ballistic shields deflecting or absorbing a projectile’s energy and deforming towards the user. BFD can result in localized loading to the upper extremity, where the shield is secured to the user. An augmented anthropomorphic test device upper extremity was used to quantify this applied load. Four locations along the upper extremity were tested—the hand, wrist, forearm, and elbow—for investigating differing boundary conditions and their effect on resultant load. Varying stand-off distances, the distance between the back of the shield and the force sensor, were investigated. Digital image correlation was also conducted to measure the dynamic displacement of the shield. The mean peak back-face velocity of the shield was 208.4 ± 38.8 m/s, while the average affected area was 1505 ± 158.3 mm2. Impulse was not significantly affected by anatomical location for the same stand-off distance; however, as stand-off distance decreased, the measured force significantly increased (p < 0.05). Notably, impact duration did not differ significantly for any of the impact scenarios. This is the first step in developing injury criteria for this region resulting from behind shield blunt trauma, and these data will be used for developing injury thresholds in post-mortem human surrogates.

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Abbreviations

ATD:

Anthropomorphic test device

BABT:

Behind-armour blunt trauma

BFD:

Back-face deformation

BSBT:

Behind shield blunt trauma

DIC:

Digital image correlation

NIJ:

National Institute of Justice

PMHS:

Post-mortem human surrogate

PVC:

Polyvinyl chloride

WorldSID:

Worldwide Harmonized Side Impact Dummy

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the funding contributions of Defense Research and Development—Canada—Valcartier Research Centre and NSERC. They’d also like to acknowledge the contributions of Benoît Gauthier and Steven Kelly (DRDC) for their assistance during ballistic testing.

Conflict of interest

This study was funded by Defense Research and Development—Canada, who approved the design of this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Biomedical Engineering, McMaster University, 1280 Main St. W, Hamilton, ON, L8S 4L8, Canada

    J. E. de Lange, L. J. Burrows & C. E. Quenneville

  2. Defense Research and Development Canada, Valcartier Research Centre, de la Bravoure Road, Quebec, QC, 2459G3J 1X5, Canada

    J.-S. Binette

  3. Mechanical Engineering Department, McMaster University, 1280 Main St. W., Hamilton, ON, L8S 4L8, Canada

    C. E. Quenneville

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  1. J. E. de Lange
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  2. L. J. Burrows
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  4. C. E. Quenneville
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Correspondence to C. E. Quenneville.

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Associate Editor Jillian Urban oversaw the review of this article.

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de Lange, J.E., Burrows, L.J., Binette, JS. et al. Behind Shield Blunt Trauma: Characterizing the Back-Face Deformation of Shields with a Focus on Upper Limb Loading. Ann Biomed Eng 51, 1331–1342 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-023-03141-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-023-03141-0

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