Study of blunt impact effects of rifle bullet penetrating the SiC/UHMWPE armor covered human torso

Abstract

To study the behind armor blunt trauma (BABT), a finite element model of a 5.8 mm rifle bullet penetrating the SiC/UHMWPE armor covered human torso was established. The human torso model comprises internal organs (heart, lung, liver, and stomach), skeleton (sternum, ribs, and spine), and muscle. It is assumed that the skeleton and muscle is linear elastic, and all internal organs are viscoelastic and hyperelastic. The impact response of a rifle bullet penetrating a human target with bulletproof armor at a speed of 900m/s is numerically simulated. The deformation data of bullet and body armor were obtained. In addition, the von Mises stresses of muscle, skeleton, and internal organs were analyzed. The numerical model provides an effective method for studying BABT and the improvement of bulletproof armor.