Bulletproof Plate AL2O3 Ceramic Sheet NIJ IV STA

A: They are largely ineffective against pure blast waves (overpressure), but are crucial against accompanying fragmentation.
• Blast Wave: A high-speed air pressure wave that can directly injure the lungs (explosive lung injury), brain (concussion), and intestines. Rigid inserts cannot attenuate this pressure wave and may even allow the impact force to be transmitted more directly due to their rigidity.
• Fragmentation: Fragments (rock, metal shards) generated by an explosion are its primary lethal element. Bulletproof inserts, especially rigid ones, are very effective at blocking these high-speed fragments, which is one of the core reasons why soldiers wear them in explosive environments.
• Conclusion: Inserts are "fragmentation protection plates," not "blast protection plates." Comprehensive blast protection requires specialized bomb disposal suits, whose core design principle is to disperse and attenuate blast waves.