Structural design of a 3-D printed stab resistant body armor

Purpose Stab-resistant body armor (SRBA) can protect the human body from injury as a result of stabbing by sharp projectiles. However, in its current design SRBA, it has not been widely adopted for use, because of its weight and poor flexibility. Herein, this paper aims to detail a new type of SRBA that is inspired by the armor plating of mammals and is fabricated using laser sintering (LS) technology. Design/methodology/approach This new type of SRBA was fabricated using LS technology. The laser sintered SRBA was subjected to a stab resistance performance test that conformed to the GA 68-2008 Chinese National Standard. The stab resistance response of the novel structured, stab resistance test plates in this study was analyzed using the using the AUTODYN explicit module in ANSYS-Workbench. Findings The structure of the novel stab resistance plate was designed and the optimum structural parameters were tested, discussed and achieved. The mechanism of dissipation of the impact energy by the pyramidal structures of the novel SRBA was studied, and it was found that this structure dispersed the kinetic energy of the knife and minimized the structural damage to the plate. Interlinks inspired by the pangolin hierarchy structure were designed and used to fabricate a large piece of laser sintered body armor. Originality/value High-performance laser sintered stab resistance plate was produced via the material and structure studies, which could reduce 40 per cent weight on the stab resistance body armor and increase the wearability.