Using Composites for Brain Safety

Griffin Beemiller Mate 330 May 23, 2011 This switch was made after tests showed a 40% improvement in impact protection of the extended chain polyethylene over aramid fiber composite helmets.3

Background
The helmet is among the oldest forms of armory known to man, as old as warfare itself. While weaponry has advanced from spears and arrows, to the invention of gun powder and bullets with velocities exceeding 400 m/s, armory is forced to evolve as well.1 Metallic helmets protect against swords and arrows, but offer little protection against musket rounds.2 Advancements in weaponry resulted in vanishing of helmets from battle fields. The U.S. Civil war showed little emphasis on head protection; soldiers wore hats and caps made of cloth. Later, metal helmets were reintroduced by the French during WWI because they protected the head against metal fragments of exploding artillery shells and indirect fire.1 The head and neck of a soldier represent only 12% of the body area but receive up to 25% of all hits during combat.1 Today, helmets are made of composite materials able to resist the impact resistance of these hits.

Science
The deformation of the helmet upon impact changes as the projectile penetrates through the helmet. Initial penetration is dominated by compression and displacement of fibers ahead of the projectile. Further penetration is characterized by stretching and shearing of the fibers adjacent to the projectile.1 The stretching of these fibers is illustrated in Figure 1 for a Kevlar fiber reinforced composite surface. These fibers can resist the impact of the projectile due to the presence of stiff benzene rings along the fibers highly crystalline chains. The ballistic limit (V50) is defined as the striking velocity at which there is a 50% probability of perforation of the material.1 Upon impact at V50, a compressive wave is generated in the composite. As this wave propagates through the thickness of the helmet, it is reflected, from its interior surface, as a tensile wave which can cause failure in the matrix interface between plies. The result is delamination and a reduction in shear stiffness of the composite material.1 Figure 2 plots the variation of the pressure wave at the interior surface of the helmet against time. The ballistic limit for this Kevlar composite tested was 680 m/s.

Application
When considering the properties required for a helmet, it must be light weight, small enough to not obstruct users vision, comfortable to the user, and most importantly impact resistant. No helmet is bullet proof, yet composite helmets have become more bullet resistant against high velocity projectiles impacts (Figure 1). Modern military helmets consist of 29 lamina of Kevlar 29, Type II fabric, woven from 1500 denier fibers in a 2x2 basket weave.1 These aramid fibers are in a polyvinyl resin matrix with 15% matrix by volume.

Figure 2: Plots the variation of pressure wave with time at the interior surface of the helmet at ballistic limit.1

References
1. Tham, C.Y., V.B.C. Tan, and H.P. Lee. "Balistic Impact of a
Figure 1: Impact of an inclined face projectile into a surface of a Kevlar 29 composite helmet causing stretching and tensile failure of fibers at ballistic limit.1 KEVLAR Helmet: Experiment and Simulations." ScienceDirect Home. International Journal of Impact Engineering, May 2008. Web. 22 May 2011. 2. "Combat Helmet." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 22 May 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combat_helmet>. 3. "The Warrior." Www.natick.army.mil. July-Aug. 2003. Web. 22 May 2011.

In 2005, the U.S. military adopted composite helmets with Spectra 900 fibers in a vinyl ester matrix.2