Materials and Technologies for Personal Protection Systems (PPSs)

High-strength and high-modulus fibres have revolutionized the design of personnel protection systems (PPSs), e.g. a bulletproof jacket (BPJ) and ballistic products like helmets and blast protective shoes. A BPJ is a lightweight personal protective gear that is worn as armour on the upper part of a wearer’s body: it helps to absorb the impact energy of bullets fired from small arms as well as to disperse the kinetic energy of fragments formed by disintegration of the bullets inside the jacket. The configuration of a complete BPJ with all its constitutive components and the fabrication technologies involved are discussed in this chapter. The advantages of using fibre-reinforced polymer composites (FRPs) in ballistic items include their high specific energy absorption capacity, lightweight, corrosion resistance, ease of fabrication and essentially the generation of less back face signature (BFS), as a result of trauma formed after the firing, compared to metals, alloys or ceramics. A detailed discussion is given of the efficacy of ballistic or combat helmets with respect to their design, selection of materials and fabrication technologies. To achieve the best ballistic resistant properties, the helmets are fabricated with hybrid fibres, e.g. composites of Kevlar and ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE). Anti-mine infantry boots (BAMI) are also discussed.