Biophysical Assessment and Predicted Thermophysiologic Effects of Body Armor.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

Military personnel are often required to wear ballistic protection in order to defend against enemies. However, this added protection increases mass carried and imposes additional thermal burden on the individual. Body armor (BA) is known to reduce combat casualties, but the effects of BA mass and insulation on the physical performance of soldiers are less well documented. Until recently, the emphasis has been increasing personal protection, with little consideration of the adverse impacts on human performance.

Objective

The purpose of this work was to use sweating thermal manikin and mathematical modeling techniques to quantify the tradeoff between increased BA protection, the accompanying mass, and thermal effects on human performance.

Methods

Using a s

SUBMITTER: Potter AW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4511810 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature