Sarhan Abd Alhamid R, Franklyn Melanie, Lee Peter V S
Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
Defence Science and Technology Group (DSTG), Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
Comput Methods Biomech Biomed Engin. 2025 Jan;28(1):121-143. doi: 10.1080/10255842.2023.2281275. Epub 2023 Nov 14.
While injuries sustained from body armour backface deformation (BFD) have not been well-documented in military injury trauma registries, data from US law enforcement officers, animal tests and currently available data pertaining to military combatants has shown that BFD can not only cause minor injuries, but also result in serious trauma. However, the nature and severity of injuries sustained depends on a multitude of factors including the projectile type, the impact location and velocity, and the specific type of body armour worn. The difficulties involved in current measurement techniques for ballistic testing has led researchers to seek alternative techniques to evaluate the level of protection from body armour, such as the finite element (FE) method. In the current study, a systematic review of the open literature was undertaken using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses methodology. The aim was to summarise the literature pertaining to the development and application of FE models to investigate body armour BFD and behind armour blunt trauma (BABT), and included FE models representing the projectile, clay-based mediums, ballistic gelatine and the human torso. Using the keywords 'behind armour*', 'ballistic blunt trauma', 'BABT', 'backface signature', 'backface deformation', 'BFS', 'BFD', 'wound ballistic', 'ballistic impact testing', 'body armour', 'bullet proof vest', 'ballistic vest', 'Finite Element*' and 'FE', an electronic database search of EBSCOhost, Google Scholar, ProQuest, Scopus, Standards, Web of Science and PubMed was conducted, and included peer-reviewed journal articles, review papers, research reports, conference papers, and MSc or PhD theses. While this research demonstrates the potential of FE analysis for recreating realistic blunt impact scenarios and enhancing the current understanding of BABT mechanisms, a common limitation in most studies is the lack of validation. Thus, in order to address this issue, it is proposed that injury predictions from FE models be correlated with trauma data from soldiers who have sustained BABT. Consequently, pressure and energy distributions within the organs can be used to interpret the effects of non-penetrating ballistic impacts on the human torso. Bridging the gap between simulation and real-world data is essential in order to validate FE models and enhance their utility in optimising body armour design and employing injury mitigation strategies.
虽然防弹衣背面变形（BFD）造成的伤害在军事创伤登记中没有得到充分记录，但来自美国执法人员的数据、动物试验以及目前与军事战斗人员相关的数据表明，BFD不仅会导致轻伤，还会造成严重创伤。然而，所受伤害的性质和严重程度取决于多种因素，包括射弹类型、撞击位置和速度以及所穿防弹衣的具体类型。当前弹道测试测量技术存在的困难促使研究人员寻求替代技术来评估防弹衣的防护水平，比如有限元（FE）方法。在本研究中，采用系统评价与Meta分析的首选报告项目（PRISMA）方法对公开文献进行了系统综述。目的是总结与有限元模型的开发和应用相关的文献，以研究防弹衣背面变形和防弹衣后钝性创伤（BABT），其中包括代表射弹、粘土介质、弹道明胶和人体躯干的有限元模型。使用关键词“防弹衣后*”“弹道钝性创伤”“BABT”“背面特征”“背面变形”“BFS”“BFD”“创伤弹道学”“弹道冲击测试”“防弹衣”“防弹背心”“弹道背心”“有限元*”和“FE”，对EBSCOhost、谷歌学术、ProQuest、Scopus、标准、科学网和PubMed等电子数据库进行了搜索，搜索范围包括同行评审的期刊文章、综述论文、研究报告、会议论文以及硕士或博士论文。虽然这项研究证明了有限元分析在重现逼真钝性冲击场景以及增进当前对BABT机制理解方面的潜力，但大多数研究的一个共同局限是缺乏验证。因此，为了解决这个问题，建议将有限元模型的损伤预测与遭受BABT的士兵的创伤数据相关联。因此，器官内的压力和能量分布可用于解释非穿透性弹道冲击对人体躯干的影响。弥合模拟数据与实际数据之间的差距对于验证有限元模型并提高其在优化防弹衣设计和采用损伤减轻策略方面的效用至关重要。
