Ballistic loading and survivability of optical fiber sensing layers for soft body armor evaluation

Abstract

The authors previously demonstrated the use of FBG sensors in Kevlar mats behind body armor to measure the transient back face deformation (BFD) during ballistic testing. This paper presents a novel sensor system based on a Fiber Bragg Grating embedded in silicone mats to improve the survivability of the body armor in-situ strain sensing layers. Due to the large amount of deformation, a relative slip between the optical fibers and the supporting structure is needed to maintain the performance of the sensors and determine the relationship between the measured strain and deformation shape. Two silicone materials were tested, Smooth-Sil 950 and Sorta-Clear 40, in both 1 mm and 2 mm thicknesses to evaluate their survivability and impact on BFD. To enhance slipping between the fibers and surrounding silicone a thin layer of petroleum jelly was placed on the fibers prior to being cast in the silicone mats. The 1 mm Sorta-Clear 40 mats performed best in silicone survivability, FBG survivability and minimal impact on the BFD. The new system improves on key deficiencies that were found from inserting the fibers directly into the Kevlar with minimal to no impact on the back face deformation.