On the dynamic behaviour of three readily available soft tissue simulants

Plate-impact experiments have been employed to investigate the dynamic response of three readily available tissue simulants for ballistic purposes: gelatin, ballistic soap (both sub-dermal tissue simulants) and lard (adipose layers). All three materials exhibited linear Hugoniot equations-of-state in the US-uP plane. While gelatin behaved hydrodynamically under shock, soap and lard appeared to strengthen under increased loading. Interestingly, the simulants under test appeared to strengthen in a material-independent manner on shock arrival (tentatively attributed to a re-arrangement of the amorphous molecular chains under loading). However, material-specific behaviour was apparent behind the shock. This behaviour appeared to correlate with microstructural complexity, suggesting a steric hindrance effect.