The effect of knife handle shape on stabbing performance

The effect of fabric and stabbing variables on severance appearance

“…The knives were purchased new and were not sharpened throughout the experiments. The lengths of the knives (100 mm) were modified to fit into an instrumented knife handle similar to that described in previous studies [4,5]. Attaching the blades to the instrumented knife provided an identical handle for both blades, as knife handle ergonomics are reported to influence human stabbing performance [4].…”

“…In comparison, stab wounds are greater in depth than in length and are thus potentially more fatal than incised wounds [1]. Several studies have investigated the human performance (force/time) characteristics of stabbing from a forensic [2,3] and a protective clothing [4,5] perspective, however research is more limited concerning severances created in apparel fabrics, with the exception of [6] although knife removal was not considered. These previous studies have focused on male stabbing performance with the exception of [5] which included some female participants (9.6%), but was conducted with reference to body armour performance.…”

Stab resistance of shear thickening fluid (STF)-treated fabrics

“…The approach uses a damped drop mass fixtured with standardized blades, which is then dropped onto an unclamped fabric placed on top of a damped backing material. The masses, velocities, and damping characteristics of the experiment have been designed to mimic the biomechanics of stabbing assaults, which have been studied extensively [36][37][38][39][40][41].…”

A Novel Method for the Analysis of Slash Cuts to Clothing

“…Horsefall et al, [8] states that there are four different actions that can occur as a knife penetrates the fabric: [8] In general the blunter the point of the knife the more difficult it is to make the initial penetration of the fabric therefore there would be more distortion around the penetration point. The sharpness of the blade will affect the shape of the severance.…”

“…The sharpness of the blade will affect the shape of the severance. A sharper blade will neatly cut the yarns as it travels through the fabric with little or no fabric distortion [8]; whereas a blunter knife will not cut through the yarn as neatly.…”