Additive Manufactured Body Armour (AMBA)”, 23Rd Annual International Solid Freeform Fabrication Symposium - an Additive Manufacturing Conference - Austin, Texas, Pp
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Loughborough Design School Advanced Additive Manufacturing Group – University of Sheffield Establishing design characteristics for the development of stab resistant Laser Sintered body armour By Andrew Allan Johnson Doctoral Thesis Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of Doctor of Philosophy of Loughborough University November 2014 © Andrew Allan Johnson, 2014 Abstract Abstract Stab resistant body armour had been used throughout history, with examples ranging from animal hide construction to the moulded Polycarbonate units typically used by United Kingdom (UK) Police Officers. Such protective articles have historically, and continue to present a number of issues which have shown to impair the operational performance of its wearer – including but not exclusive to poor thermal regulation, large masses, and reduced manoeuvrability. A number of developments have been made in an attempt to minimise the effects of such issues. One potential solution yet to be fully explored is the utilisation of Additive Manufacturing (AM) technologies. In recent years the use of such manufacturing technologies, particularly Laser Sintering, has successfully demonstrated their suitability for a range of high performance applications ranging from Formula 1® to aerospace. Due to the fundamental additive nature of AM build processes, the utilisation of such technologies have facilitated the realisation of design concepts that are typically too expensive, difficult or impossible to create using traditional manufacturing processes. In order for AM technologies to be used for the generation of stab resistant body armour a number of historical issues and performance characteristics fundamental to ensure stab resistance is achieved must be satisfied. This body of research firstly evaluated the stab resistive performance of two of the most common materials suitable for Laser Sintering – as highlighted by an initial review of AM technologies. Once an appropriate material had been highlighted it was used as the basis for further experimental testing. Such tests focussed on minimising the material thickness required to maintain an appropriate level of stab resistance within United Kingdom Home Office Scientific Development Branch (HOSDB) KR1-E1 requirement of 24 Joules of stab impact energy. Test results demonstrated that specimens manufactured from Duraform EX® required a minimum single layer thickness of 11.00 mm, and a dual layer total thickness of 9.00 mm to provide an appropriate level of stab protection within the HOSDB KR1-E1 standard. Coupled with the results generated from an investigation identifying the overlapping/imbricated assembly angle required to maintain an appropriate level of coverage across a scale structure, the stab resistant characteristics initially identified were used for the development of an imbricated scale-like assembly. Additional design features were also investigated to further minimise the total thickness of the final element design and corresponding assembled imbricated structure – ii Abstract such features included angling strike surfaces and integrating a dual layered structure within individual elements. When the finalised imbricated assemblies were stab tested, they successfully demonstrated levels of stab resistance to the UK HOSDB KR1-E1 impact energy of 24 Joules. iii Acknowledgements Acknowledgements To the supervisory dream team - many thanks for your guidance during this research. Thank you for pushing me. I owe you both so much. Dr. Guy Bingham and Dr. Candice Majewski A personal thanks to Guy for introducing me to the field of AM, holding doors open for me, for seeing my potential, and for being a good friend. Dr. Guy Bingham I would like to express my gratitude to Russ and his colleagues within the AMRG for allowing me significant access to their facilities and wealth of expertise. Professor Russ Harris & Loughborough University Additive Manufacturing Research Group Thank you to Ben and his colleagues within Loughborough University's Sports Technology Institute for allowing me access to various pieces of test apparatus. Dr. Ben Halkon & Loughborough University Sports Technology Institute I would like to express my appreciation to my friends and colleagues within the L.D.S. for creating an enjoyable environment to conduct research. I would also like to thank Loughborough Design School for their financial support during this research. Friends, Colleagues & Loughborough Design School I wish to thank my examiners for their time and input during the examination process. Dr. Allan Rennie (Lancaster) & Dr. Richard Bibb (Loughborough) Thank you to my family for their support throughout all of my studies. Family Finally I would like to thank Dr. Carolyn Plateau - you are incredible! A great journey has been made all the sweeter for finding you. Carolyn Plateau iv Publications & Awards Publications & Awards Refereed Journal Publications A. Johnson, G.A. Bingham, D. Wimpenny, “Additive manufactured textiles for high-performance stab resistant applications”, Rapid Prototyping Journal, Vol. 19, Issue 3, pp. 199-207, 2013. ‘Highly Commended Paper of 2013’ - Awarded by the ‘Rapid Prototyping Journal’ Editorial Team, March 2014. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Refereed Conference Publications G.A. Bingham, A.M. Paterson, R.J. Bibb, A. Johnson, “Additive Manufactured Textiles: Design, Modelling and Applications”, Advances in Functional Textiles - 25-26th July 2013, Manchester. G.A. Bingham, R.J. Bibb, A.M. Paterson, A. Johnson, “The Design and Modelling of Additive Manufactured Textile Structures and Garments”, 1st International Conference on Digital Fashion - 16-18th May 2013, London. A. Johnson, G.A. Bingham, C.E. Majewski, “Establishing the performance requirements for stab resistant Additive Manufactured Body Armour (AMBA)”, 23rd Annual International Solid Freeform Fabrication Symposium - An Additive Manufacturing Conference - Austin, Texas, pp. 297-306, 2012. A. Johnson, G.A. Bingham, C.E. Majewski, “AMBA - Additive Manufactured Body Armour”, 23rd Annual International Solid Freeform Fabrication Symposium; An Additive Manufacturing Conference - 6th-8th August 2012 Austin, Texas. ‘Best Research Poster’ - Awarded by Emerald Publishing at the 23rd Annual International Solid Freeform Fabrication Symposium (SFF) in Austin Texas. Poster entitled, ‘Generating Additive Manufactured Body Armour for Real-World Threats’ (2012). A. Johnson, G.A. Bingham, C.E. Majewski, “Utilising Additive Manufacturing technology for the development of knife resistant soft body armour to UK performance requirements”, IOM3 Advances in Protective Clothing Conference - 25th April 2012, Farnborough. v Publications & Awards ‘Best Research Poster’ – £500 award sponsored by the IOM3 and the UK Defence Science & Technology Laboratory (DSTL) at the 2012 Advances in Protective Clothing Conference. Poster entitled ‘AMBA – Additive Manufactured Body Armour’. A. Johnson, G.A. Bingham, C.E. Majewski, “Additive Manufactured Textiles for High-Performance Stab Resistant Application”, Proceedings of the 12th Conference on Rapid Design, Prototyping and Manufacturing (RDPM), Lancaster, pp. 87-96, 2011. ‘Best Written Student Paper’ – Awarded £100 by HK Technologies at the 12th Conference on Rapid Design, Prototyping & Manufacturing (RDPM). Paper entitled, ‘Additive Manufactured Textiles for High-Performance Stab Resistant Applications’ (2011). A. Johnson, G.A. Bingham, C.E. Majewski, “AMBA - Utilising Additive Manufacturing for the development of knife resistant body armour to UK requirements”, Loughborough Research Conference; Research that Matters - 6th March 2012, Loughborough. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Additional Awards The Sir Robert Martin Achievement Prize - £1000 award for an outstanding combination of academic and non-academic achievement. Awarded by Loughborough University, May 2014. ‘Best Research Presentation’. Loughborough Design School Research Student Conference (DeSRes), Loughborough University (2013). Presentation entitled: ‘AMBA – 3D Printed Stab Resistant Body Armour’. Loughborough University Development Trust Award - £300 award contribution to attend the Solid Freeform Fabrication Symposium in Austin, Texas, in August 2012 (Received January 2012). Ph.D. Studentship sponsored by Loughborough Design School, Loughborough University. Funding to support Ph.D. research relating to the development of Additive Manufactured stab resistant body armour (April 2011). vi Table of Contents Table of Contents Abstract .............................................................................................................................................. ii Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................... iv Publications & Awards ....................................................................................................................... v Table of Contents ............................................................................................................................. vii Nomenclature ................................................................................................................................. xiii List of Figures ...................................................................................................................................xvi List of Tables ...................................................................................................................................