THE DEVELOPMENT OF HYBRIDIZED THERMOPLASTIC-BASED STRUCTURAL MATERIALS WITH APPLICATIONS TO BALLISTIC HELMETS

摘要

U.S. helmet material technology has changed relatively little since the introduction of aramids in the 1970's. All U.S. Army ballistic helmets use woven aramids with a thermoset (toughened phenolic) resin system. The current research explores the use of thermoplastic (polyolefm-based) matrix material. Although thermoplastic aramid systems have been evaluated for specialty applications, they have often failed to meet all of the stringent criteria required of a U.S. helmet system. The present work seeks to remedy this by investigating hybridized ballistic material solutions. The combination of mass efficient ballistic and independent structural materials provides a means of meeting the spectrum of performance requirements demanded by U.S. helmet specifications. In addition to hybridization, a series of helmet prototypes have been produced that explore alternative design methods for selectively stiffening the core ballistic shell. Preliminary normalized performance data is presented that demonstrates the improved mass efficiency of the hybridized ballistic material solutions.