Bloodworth-Race S, Critchley R, Hazael R, Peare A, Temple T
Cranfield Forensics Institute, Cranfield University, Defence Academy of the United Kingdom, Shrivenham, SN6 8LA, UK.
Centre for Defence Engineering, Cranfield University, Defence Academy of the United Kingdom, Shrivenham, SN6 8LA, UK.
Heliyon. 2021 May 11;7(5):e06990. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2021.e06990. eCollection 2021 May.
Modern era combat helmets have different iterations and configurations to offer greater protection from blunt impact or ballistic penetration to suit the theatre of operation, although there are currently no standards for blast protection. Moreover, incorporation of blast protection into the same constrained mass-volume envelope is extremely challenging as there is very little space for a material to absorb or dissipate the shockwave. Foam padding is fitted in contemporary combat helmet designs for comfort and standoff purposes. Examples were subjected to blastwaves generated from an air-driven shocktube, along with open cell polyurethane foam specimens of varying pores per inch and thicknesses to. Whilst the range of samples tested did not afford any superior blast mitigation behaviour over the foam already present in helmets, they exhibited comparable performance with a lower mass. There also appears to be positive correlation between increased mass and increased impulse transmitted through the foam. The literature suggests that multiple mechanisms of damage for blast induced mild Traumatic Brain Injury (bTBI) can be caused by the helmet itself, therefore additional protection from a blunt or ballistic impact may increase the risk of damage from a blast insult.
现代作战头盔有不同的版本和配置，以提供更好的钝器冲击防护或弹道穿透防护，以适应作战环境，不过目前尚无防爆标准。此外，要在同样有限的质量-体积范围内加入防爆功能极具挑战性，因为几乎没有空间让材料吸收或消散冲击波。现代作战头盔设计中安装了泡沫衬垫，以提供舒适感并起到缓冲作用。将样本置于由气动激波管产生的冲击波中，同时还有每英寸孔隙数和厚度各异的开孔聚氨酯泡沫样本。虽然测试的样本范围在防爆性能上并未优于头盔中已有的泡沫，但它们表现出了相当的性能且质量更低。在质量增加与通过泡沫传递的冲量增加之间似乎也存在正相关关系。文献表明，爆炸导致的轻度创伤性脑损伤（bTBI）的多种损伤机制可能由头盔本身引起，因此额外的钝器或弹道冲击防护可能会增加爆炸伤害造成损伤的风险。
