Modelling penetration events in tissue simulants

Tissue simulants are used widely in ballistics to approximate the effect of a projectile on the human body. Many materials classically chosen to investigate such interactions are selected either for their visual effect or on an apparent structural similarity with human tissue – classic examples are soap and gelatin respectively. In this paper, the authors begin to assess the high strain-rate, dynamic mechanical response of these flesh simulants with the aim of providing material properties and calibration data to inform future hydrocode models to aid in investigation of real wounding mechanisms. To this end, equations of state (EOS) for ballistic gelatin and soap have been measured and are presented here along with physical testing data; these results provide a case for the development of hydrocode models that could ultimately predict the outcome of simulant penetrations. CT scanning has provided a useful method of extracting the physical data required for ultimate model validation.