Created cooling armor
Practical combat experience shows that only a few can wear a bulletproof vest on hot days, but if someone has such a strong will, then run under the scorching sun with a multi-kilogram load, it is unlikely. For such cases, researchers from Empa (Swiss Federal Laboratories for Testing and Materials Research) presented the development of body armor with a built-in air conditioner.
In order to assess the effectiveness of the new system, an experiment was conducted, during which a volunteer, dressed in such a bullet-proof vest, ran several kilometers on a treadmill in a room specially insulated and heated. With such a load, he lost only 544 grams due to fluid loss along with sweat. Previous test experience, during which the subject was doing the same thing, but in a normal non-conditioned body armor, showed a weight loss of 735 grams, which is 191 grams more.
The material from which the classic body armor is made is not so important, since both ceramic, and titanium plates, and Kevlar hold water vapor. Thus, a soldier (police officer) often has to find himself in the position of a dog, in which the sweat glands do not have thermoregulatory function. It's not so scary if you work in an office, but there is Caracas, Los Angeles, Kingstown and other cities, where a sweating policeman with a pistol convulsively clutching his hands often has to choose: either body armor or a chance to catch the criminal. The same applies to the military of developed countries, who in recent years have been fighting in hot countries.
Empa's “smart” body armor is equipped with an integrated cooling system that is based on Coolpad technology, originally developed for medical applications. The insides of the Coolpad built into the body armor are filled with water. It evaporates, and takes with it some of the thermal energy from the human body, thereby cooling it. Additionally, air cooling is provided by a small low-speed cooler.
Such development required several years of complex research. Waterproof interstitial dividers beat either too hard and inflexible for comfortable everyday use, or not waterproof enough to hold coolant. Another problem was related to the fact that the cooler, which was supposed to be very thin, was absent in the market. After Empa began to develop it independently, it turned out that with a small thickness, the usual records could not give the required strength of the fan.
In addition, the usual technology associated with the execution of the cooling tank and used in medicine, will not withstand serious mechanical loads. After the first experiments with running were carried out, the susceptibility of the surface of the cooling circuit to mechanical wear and, consequently, to water leaks became apparent. In this connection, a set consisting of ultrathin membranes, which are welded with diode pumping using solid-state lasers, began to be used for cooling.
Due to the low power consumption of modern batteries, the developers also provided for such a possibility as a quick change of water in the circuit and the fan, which is located next to the battery pack. The deadline for this operation is 1-2 minutes, after which the body armor can be used again for 3-4 hours. Zurich police responded positively about the new product after the field tests.
In the near future, the Swiss Unico swiss tex GmbH, which is a partner of Empa, intends to manufacture a small number of new cooling body armor. Their commercialization is scheduled to begin before the end of this year.
In order to assess the effectiveness of the new system, an experiment was conducted, during which a volunteer, dressed in such a bullet-proof vest, ran several kilometers on a treadmill in a room specially insulated and heated. With such a load, he lost only 544 grams due to fluid loss along with sweat. Previous test experience, during which the subject was doing the same thing, but in a normal non-conditioned body armor, showed a weight loss of 735 grams, which is 191 grams more.
The material from which the classic body armor is made is not so important, since both ceramic, and titanium plates, and Kevlar hold water vapor. Thus, a soldier (police officer) often has to find himself in the position of a dog, in which the sweat glands do not have thermoregulatory function. It's not so scary if you work in an office, but there is Caracas, Los Angeles, Kingstown and other cities, where a sweating policeman with a pistol convulsively clutching his hands often has to choose: either body armor or a chance to catch the criminal. The same applies to the military of developed countries, who in recent years have been fighting in hot countries.
Empa's “smart” body armor is equipped with an integrated cooling system that is based on Coolpad technology, originally developed for medical applications. The insides of the Coolpad built into the body armor are filled with water. It evaporates, and takes with it some of the thermal energy from the human body, thereby cooling it. Additionally, air cooling is provided by a small low-speed cooler.
Such development required several years of complex research. Waterproof interstitial dividers beat either too hard and inflexible for comfortable everyday use, or not waterproof enough to hold coolant. Another problem was related to the fact that the cooler, which was supposed to be very thin, was absent in the market. After Empa began to develop it independently, it turned out that with a small thickness, the usual records could not give the required strength of the fan.
In addition, the usual technology associated with the execution of the cooling tank and used in medicine, will not withstand serious mechanical loads. After the first experiments with running were carried out, the susceptibility of the surface of the cooling circuit to mechanical wear and, consequently, to water leaks became apparent. In this connection, a set consisting of ultrathin membranes, which are welded with diode pumping using solid-state lasers, began to be used for cooling.
Due to the low power consumption of modern batteries, the developers also provided for such a possibility as a quick change of water in the circuit and the fan, which is located next to the battery pack. The deadline for this operation is 1-2 minutes, after which the body armor can be used again for 3-4 hours. Zurich police responded positively about the new product after the field tests.
In the near future, the Swiss Unico swiss tex GmbH, which is a partner of Empa, intends to manufacture a small number of new cooling body armor. Their commercialization is scheduled to begin before the end of this year.
Prepared by materials Empa и Compulenta.ru
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