EXPERIMENTAL MODELING OF A RESIDUAL WOUND CAVITY ON A BALISTIC PLASTICINE USING CONVENTIONAL AND HOLLOW POINT BULLETS

Abstract

Relevance. Local armed conflicts of recent decades around the world are characterized by the use of hollow point (HP) bullets, which is another challenge for military surgeons. This confirms the importance for scientific research, in particular, experimental, aimed at studying the ballistic properties of various types of ammunition and the characteristics of the injuries caused by them in the wounded people. Simulation of a gunshot wound canal is an integral stage in the study of the gunshot wounds formation mechanism and is the subject of research in wound ballistics.
 Objective of the work is to develop an experimental model for ballistic imitation of the plastic deformation of biological tissues caused by the action of HP and non-HP bullets.
 Materials and methods. The studies were carried out on 40 blocks of ballistic plasticine, in each of which one shot was fired from an AKS-74 assault rifle and a ZBROYAR Z-10 carbine. Depending on the type of ammunition, the blocks of ballistic plasticine were divided into 4 groups: group I - 10 blocks, into which shots were made with non-HP military cartridges 5.45 mm with "PS" bullets with a steel core "7N6"; Group II (10 blocks) - 5.45x39 mm cartridges with V-Max HP bullets; group ІІІ (10 blocks) - with cartridges 7.62x39 mm; group IV (10 blocks) - cartridges 7.62x39 mm with HP bullets of the "SP" type.
 Results. It was found that when using non-HP bullets, the outer area of ​​the inlet ball hole correlates with the projectile caliber (1.6 times more than when using 7.62 mm bullets). For HP bullets, the caliber of the projectile does not significantly affect the area of ​​the entrance opening (P <0.05). The expanding properties of the bullet significantly increase the area of ​​the bullet hole by 14.87-31.2 times compared to non-HP ammunition. An increase in the caliber of non-HP bullets leads to a significant increase in the area of ​​the sagittal section of the residual wound cavity by 1.59-2.03 times; The expanding properties of bullets of different calibers have a different effect on the volume of the residual wound cavity: for 5.45 mm bullets, the residual wound cavity increases 1.49 times, for 7.62 mm bullets it decreases 1.65 times.
 Conclusions. The type of small arms, the caliber of the cartridge, its expanding properties affect the spatial configuration of the main ballistic indicators arising in the proposed model of plastic deformation of soft tissues. The use of HP bullets leads to the formation of a larger volume of irreversible damage due to plastic deformation in comparison with non-HP analogs.