Presented by M.G.

Iswariya [11mat03]

Introduction
Protection of military personnel on land, sea, and in the air differs significantly in many respects from protection of civilians. Civilians usually face involuntary accidental situations in the workplace which require protective clothing, whereas military personnel in war face many complex hazards which are deliberately aimed at maiming or killing them.

Among the weapons which military forces face are ballistic projectiles such as bullets, flying debris, bomb and grenade fragments, flames, heat and weapon flash, toxic chemical and biological agents, nuclear blast, radiant heat, and radiation.

In recent years another category of weapons has been named `non-lethal weapons' which are designed to interfere, disrupt and injure personnel. These include rubber bullets, water cannon, high-intensity sound, blinding lasers, and mindaltering drugs. General requirements for military protective textiles:

PROPERTY
Low weight Low bulk High durability Low maintenance Good handle and drape Low maintenance Long storage life Easy care

COMMENTS

PHYSICAL PROPERTIES Items have to be carried by infantry soldiers Must operate reliably in adverse conditions for long periods

Maintenance difficult in the field Up to 1020 years Smart, easily laundered in the field without damaging performance Anti-static To avoid incendive or explosive sparks ECONOMIC CONSIDERATIONS Minimal cost Paid forwith public funding from taxes Readily available From competitive tendering in industry Repairable In the field or in HQworkshops Decontaminable or disposable After contamination by nuclear, biological or chemical agents Easy care Smart, non-iron, easily cleanable, low shrink

Textiles for Environmental Protection

Military ground forces face the most difficult operational conditions of all. Soldiers typically operate in short bursts of high activity, running carrying equipment and weapons. In between they may have to lie immobile under cover or in trenches for long periods of time. Keeping dry and comfortable is essential.

Excessive activity and sweating in a cold climate followed by inactivity can lead to hypothermia (cold stress), whereas high work rates whilst wearing layers of protective clothing in hot climates leads to hyperthermia (heat stress). These conditions can lead to illness or death.

General requirements

Next-to-skin materials
Underwear is primarily worn as a hygiene and tactile comfort layer. The tactile properties are associated with fit, flexibility, surface roughness and dermatitic skin reactions. The moisture transport properties of underwear are more important than the thermal insulation properties.

Perspiration only has a cooling effect if it leaves the skin as a vapour. The `buffering capacity' of knitted underwear materials can be measured using a skin model or sweating guarded hotplate apparatus (ISO 11092, 1993). The best knitted materials were composed of blends of hollow polyester with cotton in a double jersey construction.

Thermal insulation materials

Thermal insulation depends primarily on the entrapment of still air in a structure. Fibres, yarns and fabrics offer a very large surface area to trap the maximum amount of still air. Finer fibres tend to trap more still air than coarse fibres

The system includes: Leather gloves, Arctic mitten assembly, Snow gaiters, Wool/nylon socks, Waterproof boot liners, Leather boots Knee pads. It is used by all Army, Royal Marines, and RAF Regiment personnel.

Ballistic protection
The main ballistic threats to military personnel are fragmenting projectiles rather than bullets. The projectiles originate from grenades, mortars, artillery shells, mines, and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) the latter used by terrorists. The other threats are low velocity bullets from hand guns, and high velocity bullets from rifles and machine guns.

Casualty reduction using personal armours

Providing adequate ballistic protection for an individual is a complex process. The limiting factors are related to the weight, bulk, rigidity and physiological burden imposed by wearing the armour. It is clear that textile structures can offer advantages of low density, flexibility and comfort over rigid metallic armour.

However, textiles alone cannot protect against highvelocity bullets of 5.56mm, 7.62mm, 12.7 mm, and sharp projectiles that cut through textiles. In these situations additional rigid plates made from textile composites and ceramics need to be added to protect vital organs such as the heart. Head protection is a particular priority that can be met by the use of shaped, moulded composites using specialist textiles

The following are the estimated reductions in casualties to troops standing in the open and threatened by mortars.
Wearing a ballistic helmet can reduce casualties up to 19%. Wearing body armour alone can reduce casualties up to 40%. Wearing both helmet and body armour can reduce casualties up to 65%.

Textile fibres for ballistic protection

y Historically, woven silk fabrics were used for ballistic y y

y y

protection. More recently - high modulus aliphatic nylon with trade names Kevlar (Du Pont) and Twaron. In recent years a range of high-modulus gel-spun polyethylene fibres with trade names include Spectra (Honeywell) and Dyneema. Fraglight is a non-woven needle felt version of Dyneema. PBO (poly-paraphenylene benzobis oxazole) with the trade name Zylon (Toyobo)- A recent addition

y It is clear that these specialist technical textiles offer the

great advantages of much lower density and high modulus compared with steel wire.

Textile structures for ballistic protection

Involves arresting the flight of high-speed projectiles in as short a distance as possible. High-modulus textile fibres possess very high strength and very low elongation, which prevents indentation and subsequent bruising and trauma after a body impact.

Also, ballistic resistance increases with overall areal density, which necessitates the use of between about five and 25 layers of fabric to produce adequate performance. To allow each textile layer to move independently the shaped packs are secured by stitching around the edge, or quilt stitched in lines or squares. It is necessary to seal the shaped packs inside a waterproof, light-tight cover as the presence of moisture and UV light can degrade the ballistic performance.

Ballistic Testing and Evaluation

Military ballistic packs are tested in instrumented firing ranges using fragment simulating projectiles (FSPs) of standardised weight and size. The FSPs are fired at a range of test velocities so that pass/fail criteria in the form of V50, V0, or Vc can be determined. V50 is the velocity in ms-1 at which there is an expected probability of penetration of 50% of the FSPs.

A more understandable approach for the user is to measure Vo or Vc (critical velocity) at which no penetration of the full pack occurs, since the main objective is to shield the wearer from any of the projectiles. However, V50 is still the most commonly used measure, as the V0 does not statistically exist. Other threats are often tested by a complete pass/fail protection test. Models are used to judge how effective a protective armour might be in combat situations.

In service ballistic materials and end items

Military forces use a wide range of ballistic protective clothing assemblies and composite helmets using ballistic Nylon and para-aramid fabrics.

Ballistic clothing assemblies vary in protection levels and complexity depending on the type of operation. The protection level against high-velocity bullets can be increased progressively by covering a larger body area and incorporating rigid, shaped composite or ceramic plates.

This may conceivably weigh 13 to 15 kg, or about onefifth of the weight of an active fit soldier. This does not include helmets, visors, and leg protection. The complete ultimate explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) can weigh up to 30 kg.

Camouflage, concealment and deception

Camouflage is predominantly a military form of protection against external threats. It defined the science of concealment of objects and people by the imitation of their physical surroundings.

Effective camouflage must break up the human's characteristic outline, and minimise the contrast between them and the environment in terms of colour, texture, shadow, and electronic signature.

Concealment of personnel to avoid visual detection by eye or photography is still the primary means of military surveillance and target acquisition. Textiles are widely used as camouflage media in the form of light, flexible nets, covers, and garnishing, as well as dyed or printed clothing items.

Textiles are lightweight, durable, cheap, and can be manufactured in a wide variety of colours, textures, and patterns.

Flames, heat and flash protection

Criteria for protection of the individual:
Protective clothing must:
Prevent the outer clothing and equipment catching fire by using flame retardant, self-extinguishing textiles. Prevent conducted or radiated heat from reaching the skin by providing several layers of thermal insulation or air gaps. Minimise the evolution of toxic fumes by careful selection of materials. For high-risk personnel, prevent clothing in contact with bare skin melting and sticking by avoiding thermoplastic fibres such as nylon, polyester, PVDC, and polyolefins

Flame retardant textiles in military use

Proban treated cotton, alone or in blends with up to 30% polyester. Meta-aramid fabrics such as Nomex, Conex and Kermel. Wool can be treated with colourless zircomium and titanium hexafluoro-complexes. Modacrylic fibres in twill fabrics with nylon.

Future trends
The main military nations have research programmes geared towards future combat and protective clothing as integrated systems. The systems approach involves all the major stakeholders, including, strategic planners, users, equipment capability managers, operational analysers, R & D scientists, producers, contracts staff, etc.

The general aims of future systems are to Improve protection against natural and battlefield threats Maintain thermophysiological comfort, or survival in extreme conditions Improve compatibility between and within different clothing components Reduce weight and bulk of materials Integrate functionality, so that fewer layers provide multi-role protection Reduce life-cycle costs by making systems more effective, durable, recyclable, and by buying fewer components in the sytem.

Future combat clothing systems will incorporate significant levels of optoelectronic technology. Nanotechnology may provide better breathable and self-decontaminating barrier fabrics, improved textiles and camouflage through enhanced micro and nanoparticle technology in fibrous polymers

Thank you