Development of biomechanical response corridors of the thorax to blunt ballistic impacts

Human responses are critical to understanding injury biomechanics in blunt ballistic impacts, which are defined as 20–200 g projectiles impacting at 20–250 m/s. 13 human cadavers were exposed to three distinct ballistic impacts of the chest to determine force–time, deflection–time and force–deflection responses. Comparisons were made between biomechanical responses for ballistic impacts and those previously reported for lower speed, higher mass impacts. Impact condition B (140 g at 40 m/s) gave the largest peak force 10,602±2226 N and deflection 54.7±14.6 mm. Impact condition A (140 g at 20 m/s) involved lower impact energy and produced lower peak force 3383±761 N and deflection 25.9±3.1 mm, as did impact condition C (40 g at 60 m/s), which gave 3158±309 N and 20.1±7.8 mm. The results indicate each impact condition gives distinctive responses, which differ from those previously reported in the automotive literature for lower speed impacts. This information provides the foundation for future biomechanical research in the area of blunt ballistic impacts, specifically the development of test surrogates and evaluation of protective equipment.