Blast Armor Using Machine-Augmented Composite Material

Center for Integration of Medicine and Innovative Technology (CIMIT) Engineering, 2007-08

Liaison(s): L. Alex Pranger ’92/93
Advisor(s): Nancy Lape
Students(s): Nick Sherrow-Groves (TL), Diego Gonzalez, Chris Lee, Michael Martin (S), David Su (F), Jinsun Yoo (F)

Blast waves can cause various types of injury, including eardrum rupture and severe pulmonary hemorrhaging. Soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan are increasingly at risk of this type of injury from IEDs and other explosives, since the ceramic armor currently in use by the United States military is not effective in blast situations. The goal of this project is to develop armor to mitigate blast energy from explosive sources, using Machine-Augmented Composite (MAC) material.