A Methodology for Assessing Blast Protection in Explosive Ordnance Disposal Bomb Suits |
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Authors: | Cameron “Dale” Bass Martin Davis Mark “Steve” Rountree Robert M Harris Ellory Sanderson |
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Institution: | 1. University of Virginia, Charlottesville, USA;2. U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command, Ft. Detrick, MD, USA;3. U.S Army Aberdeen Test Center, Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Ft. Detrick, MD USA |
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Abstract: | To reduce human casualties associated with explosive ordnance disposal, a wide range of protective wear has been designed to shield against the blast effects of improvised explosive devices and munitions. In this study, 4 commercially available bomb suits, representing a range of materials and armor masses, were evaluated against 0.227 and 0.567 kg of spherical C-4 explosives to determine the level of protection offered to the head, neck, and thorax.A Hybrid III dummy, an instrumented human surrogate 1], was tested with and without protection from the 4 commercially available bomb suits. 20 tests with the dummy torso mounted to simulate a kneeling position were performed to confirm repeatability and robustness of the dummies, as well as to evaluate the 4 suits. Correlations between injury risk assessments based on past human or animal injury model data and various parameters such as bomb suit mass, projected area, and dummy coverage area were drawn. |
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Keywords: | blast pressure human surrogate bomb suits injury risk head injury neck injury thoracic injury |
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