Health Hazards Assessment for Blast Overpressure Exposures.
Abstract
The well being of the soldier, which has always been the primary concern of the US Army Medical Research & Materiel Command (MRMC), is rapidly becoming a concern of the entire Army. The development of new, high-power weapons and the need to establish safe training practices has revealed the importance of the nonauditory effects of blast overpressure. In addition, blast injury is an important component of battlefield trauma. In the future, as the size of the fighting force decreases and the sophistication of the weaponry increases, the performance and effectiveness of the individual soldier becomes increasingly important. Both of these trends underscore the need for a rational basis for making health hazards assessment and performance estimation. This paper provides a review of the progress in developing such a rational basis that was accomplished by JAYCOR under MRMC contract DAMD17-93-C-3005. Through a combination of data analysis, blast simulation, mechanical surrogates, and biomechanical modeling a predictive methodology has been developed that is now used by MRMC to make quantitative hazard assessments in a wide variety of military circumstances.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Nov 01, 1995
- Accession Number
- ADA303649
Entities
People
- James H. Stuhmiller