Innovativeness in tradition: a comparative study of traditional leather armor scales and modern materials

Abstract

In medieval Korea, armors made of various materials were developed. Among these, the leather armors were lighter and cheaper than the iron armors and were easy to make. For these reasons, there was a movement toward replacing two-thirds of suits of iron armor with leather armor made of pig or cow skin. As a follow-up to a previous study in which the basic physical properties of a leather scale specimen were investigated, in this study, we focused on the protective performance of this material through a comparison with materials such as steel and polycarbonate. In particular, the superiority of the leather was verified through a quantitative comparison with a modern carbon fiber composite. As part of this study, armor that copied the shape of traditional myeonpigap was produced. Carbon fiber composite panels were used to coat this armor in order to satisfy the requirements for the armor to be light, wearable, and provide effective anti-stab protection at the same time.