A methodology for assessing blast protection in explosive ordnance disposal bomb suits. |
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Authors: | Cameron R Dale Bass Cameron Dale Bass Martin Davis Karin Rafaels Mark Steve Rountree Robert M Harris Ellory Sanderson Walter Andrefsky Gina DiMarco Michael Zielinski |
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Affiliation: | University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22902, 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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