Flexible Less-Lethal Projectile Radial Expansion
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional kinetic less-lethal projectiles often result in fatalities due to high pressure impact on small areas, leading to bone fractures, organ injuries, and skin penetration.
Innovation Solution
A less-lethal projectile design featuring a flexible cylindrical body with a conical tail and a tubular sidewall, filled with a flowable medium, which upon impact, redirects the medium radially outward, expanding the sidewall and distributing force over a wider area, reducing peak pressure.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Force
If conventional kinetic less-lethal projectiles are used, then the projectile delivers high energy to incapacitate the target, but the force is concentrated on a small area causing skin penetration and severe injury
Solution Approach 1:
The projectile expands from a one-dimensional point impact to a two-dimensional area impact by radially expanding the flexible body upon contact with the target. This dimensional transition distributes the force over a larger surface area, reducing peak pressure while maintaining total energy delivery.
Solution Approach 2:
The projectile transitions from a rigid structure to a dynamic, expandable form. The flexible material allows the projectile to deform and expand radially upon impact, changing its contact geometry dynamically to distribute force more effectively across the target surface.
2Device complexity
If the projectile impacts with high pressure on a small area, then the projectile structure remains simple, but bone fractures and organ injuries occur
Solution Approach 1:
The projectile changes its physical parameters upon impact by transitioning from a compact rigid form to an expanded flexible form. This parameter change increases the contact area and decreases the pressure density, reducing harmful effects while maintaining the basic projectile structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The projectile incorporates a flexible material that allows radial expansion upon impact. This flexibility enables the projectile to conform to and distribute force across a larger area of the target, reducing the likelihood of penetrating injuries while maintaining structural integrity.
3Speed
If the projectile delivers all energy at once, then the impact is immediate and forceful, but the deceleration time is very short increasing peak pressure
Solution Approach 1:
The projectile's dynamic expansion during impact extends the deceleration process. As the flexible material expands radially, it prolongs the time over which the projectile's momentum is transferred to the target, reducing peak pressure while maintaining the overall impact force.
Solution Approach 2:
The flexible material acts as a built-in cushion that engages during impact. This cushioning effect extends the deceleration time by allowing gradual compression and expansion of the flexible body, reducing the shock peak while maintaining energy transfer.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The design effectively decreases the chance of skin penetration and severe injury while maintaining the necessary force to incapacitate, by distributing the force over a larger area and increasing deceleration time.
Implementation Method 1
Upon impact of the nose with a target, the momentum of the flowable medium causes it to move forward in the interior space around the conical tail. The conical tail redirects some of the flowable medium radially outward.
Implementation Method 2
The redirected flowable medium deforms or expands the sidewall radially outward while the momentum of the flowable medium continues to carry it generally forward around the nose, thereby causing the radially expanded sidewall to contact the target around the nose.
Data Source
AI summary
A less-lethal projectile includes a cylindrical flexible body. The body includes a nose, a conical tail, and a tubular sidewall. The tail and sidewall extend rearwardly away from the nose. The sidewall defines an interior space around the tail. A flowable medium is received in the interior space around the tail. The flowable medium is configured to deform the sidewall upon impact of the nose with a target such that a portion of the sidewall contacts the target around the nose. Impact of the nose with the target causes the flowable medium to move forward in the interior space around the tail and expand the sidewall radially outward and forward such that the sidewall contacts the target around the nose.