Agilenano, the University of California San Diego, DuPont® and GENTEX® Corporation propose a Phase I demonstration of a volumetric and mass-efficient armor system having an areal density less than 10 lbs/ft2 which reduces blast energy transmitted to the crew compartment from a STANAG 4569 Level 1 grenade or mine blast by at least 30%. Our team will design and manufacture 2''x2'' armor panels, develop and conduct quantitative explosive blast test methods, and measure V50 performance versus 0.30-cal. FSP and 0.30-cal. APM2. Our proposed armor is structured around AgileZorb a revolutionary nanotechnology-based blast energy absorbing material recently shown by the Navy to reduce transmitted blast pressures by 75% to 95% and to be orders of magnitude faster than conventional materials. The remainder of the structure consists of high hardness steel, flame resistant Kevlar®, and Nomex® honeycomb filled with the AgileZorb. The steel begins fragmenting the projectiles and protects against environmental elements. The Kevlar® layers provide spall and additional fragment and projectile barriers in addition to excellent flame resistance. The combined layers provide protection against the primary shock front (a primary cause of Traumatic Brain and Blast Lung injury), the tertiary blast wind and ballistic penetration.
Benefit: The proposed armor will provide the Marines with lighter vehicular armor to increase their lethality, survivability, maneuverability and effectiveness in counter insurgency operations. Lighter innovative armor systems will enable fielding of rapidly deployable, sustainable vehicles with increased blast and ballistic protection and lower logistical burden. The proposed armor can be used for (a) vehicle protection, (b) armor plating for structures, (c) protective panels for office environments, (d) marine vessels, (e) railway cars and any other application requiring protection from blasts and ballistics. In particular, a portion of a paragraph written by GENTEX® is a clear indication of AgileZorb''s potential use in armor panels: "GENTEX® and DuPont® have a 30 year history of teaming together to provide solutions to the U.S. military. DuPont® and GENTEX® believe that the AgileNano technology offers a truly revolutionary step change in both ballistic and blast protection. DuPont and GENTEX view Lightweight Structures Roadside Blast Protection as a springboard to a significant new technology to protect Warfighters. If the NAVY demonstrates confidence in our solution by selecting our proposal for further development, GENTEX® and DuPont® will invest their considerable research, development and engineering capabilities to assure that NAVY long range technical and cost objectives for lightweight vehicular armor are fully satisfied." The full paragraph appears in Section 5.0 of our proposal. Commercial applications of the armor include applications identical to the military applications, but for civilian assets, e.g. homeland security applications of key infrastructures. AgileZorb, a nanotechnology-based energy absorbing compressible liquid/gel has additional military applications including helmets, body armor, fabric and tents for mitigation of Traumatic Brain Injury and Blast Lung Injury, as well as boots and gun recoil pads. Because AgileZorb works on a nano-scale, it begins reacting to blast energy within microseconds fast enough to absorb much of the primary shock front believed by many researchers to be a primary cause of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and Blast Lung Injury (BLI). Tests have shown the ability of AgileZorb to reduce transmitted pressure levels in TBI applications by 75% - 95%. AgileZorb also has great commercial potential in shoes/insoles, sporting helmets, sporting protective equipment (vests, chest/shin/wrist/chin protectors, gloves) and as a sound absorption material.
Keywords: IED, Lightweight Blast Mitigation, Kevlar®, AgileZorb, vehicle protection, MRAP, HMMWV, Blast Protection
