Foam Flotation Systems for Personnel Wearing Body Armor

Abstract

A feasibility study was conducted on approaches to using foams in flotation systems for personnel wearing body armor. Flotation systems should be rapidly deployable (10 seconds) and provide flotation for at least six hours, even if damaged. These systems should not interfere with the wearer as he performs his duties. Three approaches were investigated: (1) the use of preformed flexible foam; (2) instantly generated polystyrene foam; and (3) fast reacting two-component urethane foams. Only the preformed flexible foam performed well when fabricated into a jacket and tested on a man.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jul 01, 1971
Accession Number
AD0731000

Entities

People

  • A. Wojtowicz
  • I. O. Salyer
  • J. L. Schwendeman
  • R. T. Jefferson
  • Sumei Sun

Organizations

  • United States Army Soldier Systems Center

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Human Systems
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Armor Plate
  • Biomedical And Dental Materials
  • Body Armor
  • Chemical Reactions
  • Chemistry
  • Explosives
  • Fabrication
  • Materials Laboratories
  • Materials Processing
  • Materials Science
  • Military Research
  • Polymeric Films
  • Polystyrenes
  • Resilience
  • Resins
  • Standards

Readers

  • Agent-Based Social Robotics and Mobile-Assisted Learning in Virtual Environments.
  • Explosive Engineering.
  • Materials Science