S
sm1lodon
Guest
Not having been there, I saw a segment on the Fifth Estate about some injuries and casualties we are receiving in Afghanistan.
The doctor explained that the IEDs are exploding outside our LAV's, and the force is causing blunt trauma to soldiers through their butts into their spine, and through their feet into their legs.
She even drew a diagram on a whiteboard demonstrating why they were having these injuries.
I don't know who in the Department of Defense would even bother to read anything I suggested, but being an inventor, I want to put forth some suggestions to mitigate the effects of blast wave propagation through the hulls of our sturdy vehicles:
It seems that the vehicles themselves, being rigid, are not being torn to bits by the IEDs as often as they are causing the soldiers inside to be rattled around by the force of the suddenly-jerking vehicle being accelerated by the force of the IED.
On fighter jets, there is no padding between a pilot and his parachute-pack seat because with the 39 g forces of the rocket ejection seat, the short distance between his butt and the seat separated by a cushion would result in a fairly large impact force on his pelvis and spine when the seat was activated and suddenly traveled the inch or so (at 39 g this is like 39 inches of free-fall, yes?) and impacted him.
By measuring the g-forces involved in various sized IED blasts in a controlled environment, it could be ascertained just what method of insulating the crew from the jolt of the blast wave might be most effective.
I know that one segment on the Fifth Estate doesn't tell all there is to know about all that happens everywhere in every field of combat anywhere since the dawn of time, so, please, those who live to criticize others, quell your bitter impulses to lash out with your tongues and keyboards. Go scream at your children instead.
Armed with a knowledge of the duration, intensity, and direction of the IED blasts encountered in theater, interior modifications could be enacted such as we have in cars to cushion the impact of soft bodies being hit by rigid structures.
Since the impulse is very brief, milliseconds or less, not a second or so like the acceleration of an ejection seat, perhaps just thicker padding, that does not bounce back immediately (so it doesn't compress then toss the soldier head first into the ceiling) would work. The "memory foam" that is used for all those mattresses I see on TV might have properties that would be useful.
I imagine that the IED blast has two effects:
1) The initial shock wave that impacts that body of the LAV, and is transferred into it through the armored skin
2) The acceleration of the LAV as a result, moving it in the average direction of the blast wave with the mitigating factors of vehicle shape, mass, where the center of gravity is in relation to the center of pressure, etc.
If the harm coming to our troops is mainly from the initial shock wave, like having your butt on a steel plate that someone hits from beneath with a sledgehammer, perhaps just thicker padding or padding of a different material would suffice.
If the harm comes from the sudden acceleration of the vehicle, which first acts against the soldier to accelerate him, then results in him being tossed into the next closest object, be it ceiling, fellow soldier, eyepiece on the 25mm, (like one injury I saw on the Fifth Estate) or whatever, then not only thicker padding, but perhaps restraints to keep people from being tossed about the cabin would be in order. Restraints that are actually long enough to reach around equipped soldiers, and very fast to intentionally release.
Any sane, rational, non-emotionally-charged, non-abusive comment that actually contributes something is welcome. Similarly, comments along the line of "Well, dadgum, if man were meant to fly, God woulda given him wings" and any of its descendants need not apply. Yes, I know, there are teams of engineers designing these things, but, it does not mean there is absolutely not one area, not one at all, that can possibly be improved in any way whatsoever, ever.
Cars these days are being designed with crush zones to make it so the forces experienced by the occupants during impacts are not as severe as in the old days where the car would be fairly rigid and the occupants would be also, after the accident.
I know the outsides are not likely to be made deformable to absorb blast, but the insides can be more soldier friendly, perhaps.
The doctor explained that the IEDs are exploding outside our LAV's, and the force is causing blunt trauma to soldiers through their butts into their spine, and through their feet into their legs.
She even drew a diagram on a whiteboard demonstrating why they were having these injuries.
I don't know who in the Department of Defense would even bother to read anything I suggested, but being an inventor, I want to put forth some suggestions to mitigate the effects of blast wave propagation through the hulls of our sturdy vehicles:
It seems that the vehicles themselves, being rigid, are not being torn to bits by the IEDs as often as they are causing the soldiers inside to be rattled around by the force of the suddenly-jerking vehicle being accelerated by the force of the IED.
On fighter jets, there is no padding between a pilot and his parachute-pack seat because with the 39 g forces of the rocket ejection seat, the short distance between his butt and the seat separated by a cushion would result in a fairly large impact force on his pelvis and spine when the seat was activated and suddenly traveled the inch or so (at 39 g this is like 39 inches of free-fall, yes?) and impacted him.
By measuring the g-forces involved in various sized IED blasts in a controlled environment, it could be ascertained just what method of insulating the crew from the jolt of the blast wave might be most effective.
I know that one segment on the Fifth Estate doesn't tell all there is to know about all that happens everywhere in every field of combat anywhere since the dawn of time, so, please, those who live to criticize others, quell your bitter impulses to lash out with your tongues and keyboards. Go scream at your children instead.
Armed with a knowledge of the duration, intensity, and direction of the IED blasts encountered in theater, interior modifications could be enacted such as we have in cars to cushion the impact of soft bodies being hit by rigid structures.
Since the impulse is very brief, milliseconds or less, not a second or so like the acceleration of an ejection seat, perhaps just thicker padding, that does not bounce back immediately (so it doesn't compress then toss the soldier head first into the ceiling) would work. The "memory foam" that is used for all those mattresses I see on TV might have properties that would be useful.
I imagine that the IED blast has two effects:
1) The initial shock wave that impacts that body of the LAV, and is transferred into it through the armored skin
2) The acceleration of the LAV as a result, moving it in the average direction of the blast wave with the mitigating factors of vehicle shape, mass, where the center of gravity is in relation to the center of pressure, etc.
If the harm coming to our troops is mainly from the initial shock wave, like having your butt on a steel plate that someone hits from beneath with a sledgehammer, perhaps just thicker padding or padding of a different material would suffice.
If the harm comes from the sudden acceleration of the vehicle, which first acts against the soldier to accelerate him, then results in him being tossed into the next closest object, be it ceiling, fellow soldier, eyepiece on the 25mm, (like one injury I saw on the Fifth Estate) or whatever, then not only thicker padding, but perhaps restraints to keep people from being tossed about the cabin would be in order. Restraints that are actually long enough to reach around equipped soldiers, and very fast to intentionally release.
Any sane, rational, non-emotionally-charged, non-abusive comment that actually contributes something is welcome. Similarly, comments along the line of "Well, dadgum, if man were meant to fly, God woulda given him wings" and any of its descendants need not apply. Yes, I know, there are teams of engineers designing these things, but, it does not mean there is absolutely not one area, not one at all, that can possibly be improved in any way whatsoever, ever.
Cars these days are being designed with crush zones to make it so the forces experienced by the occupants during impacts are not as severe as in the old days where the car would be fairly rigid and the occupants would be also, after the accident.
I know the outsides are not likely to be made deformable to absorb blast, but the insides can be more soldier friendly, perhaps.