Investigations on Structured Polyamide for Laser Sintered Body Armor

Stab resistance body armor (SRBA) is essential in protecting people from knife injuries. The protective parts of traditional SRBA are made of multi-layered ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE), which causes heavy heat stress for people wearing it. The protective parts of SRBA manufactured using laser sintering (LS) 3D printing technology provide high manufacturing flexibility and low weight. Two different structures, plain plate and pyramid-structured plate, were investigated. The pyramid structure showed much higher stab resistance property then the plain plate, because of the angle and thickness effects. This is the first effort applying the LS technology and polyamide (PA) material (PA 3200) on SRBA. By applying the pyramid structure on the protective layer of the SRBA, the total weight could reduce 30%-40%.