The Effect of Environmental and Mechanical Mechanisms on the Performance of Soft Body Armor

Published

July 27, 2009

Author(s)

Gale A. Holmes, Eun S. Park, Jae Hyun Kim, Walter G. McDonough, John R. Sieber, Haruki Kobayashi, Michael A. Riley, Kirk D. Rice

Abstract

The use of high performance fibers (such as, poly[(benzo-[1,2-d;5,4-d ]-benzoxazole-2,6-diyl)-1,4-phenylene]1 (PBO), ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene2 (UHMWPE), and poly(p-phenylene terephthalamide)3 (PPTA)) in soft body armor (SBA) is well documented. The susceptibility of the ballistic fibers to environmental degradation, however, became the subject of intense concern after two new units (< 1 year old), containing PBO fibers, failed when hit by bullets the SBAs were designed to resist. This report summarizes NIST s research on the contribution of both chemical and mechanical degradation to the performance of PBO fibers and the impact of mechanical degradation on the ballistic performance of PPTA fibers.

Proceedings Title

17th International Conference on Composite Materials (ICCM-17)

Conference Dates

July 27-31, 2009

Conference Location

Edinburgh

Pub Type

Conferences

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Keywords

ballistic fiber, soft body armor, polybenzoxazole

Citation

Holmes, G. , Park, E. , , J. , McDonough, W. , Sieber, J. , Kobayashi, H. , Riley, M. and Rice, K. (2009), The Effect of Environmental and Mechanical Mechanisms on the Performance of Soft Body Armor, 17th International Conference on Composite Materials (ICCM-17), Edinburgh, -1, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=902527 (Accessed October 8, 2025)