WHY BALLISTIC TESTING METHODS OF BODY ARMOR DO NOT GIVE US ACCURATE INFORMATION

Abstract

In the security sectoralways is attention paid to ensure the best possible protection for their employees. Manufacturers and especially the users of ballistic protection systems need an adequate answer to the question whether the chosen protection is effective against specific threats. Such evaluation is difficult enough, mainly because ballistic systems of body armors are high technology products and they embody last achievements in different branches of technology and science. The needed ballistic protection from different threats (bullets, fragments, explosions, stab protection, etc.), makes the only verified and reliable method for effectiveness assessment ballistic test. But are the ballistic tests reliable enough? How they express real situation? What is acceptable risk to assume? The more often used method for assеssment of ballistic protection level is determined by series 0101 NIJ Standards: the body armor, mounted on plasticine block is hitted by different caliber ammo and at one side there hasn’t to be penetration, and at other hand the blunt trauma hasn’t to exceed 44 mm. These should guarantee body armor ballistic protection rate. Other “plasticine” based ballistic testing standards have same imperfections, because their origin from 0101 series of NIJ Standards. This scenario for bullet resistance testing is needed for general reconstruction: the plasticine has a quite different properties in comparison with different areas of human body; the measured value of penetration has only static component – lack of correspondence with real situations, dynamic component (impact wave propagation, character of wave, etc.) isn’t included; and last but not least this criteria for high-speed (rifle) bullets never has been compared with human/animal corpses results. The goal of this paper is to summarize main problems related with this scenario of testing, to characterize in theory the possible consequences after non penetrating impact – mechanical damages, impact wave propagation and other impact phenomena, due to bullet impacts in relation with impact phenomena, and to provide some directions for development of new methods for ballistic testing.