Investigation of composite fabric impregnated with non-Newtonian fluid for protective textiles

Abstract

Commercial high-performance fibre materials for body armour have very low surface friction and this has become an issue in the effectiveness of ballistic impact energy absorption. Also, the incidence of sports injuries in high contact sports is high. The severity of injuries of police and sportsman can be reduced by wearing enhanced protective clothing that have the ability to absorb the shocks. In this study, a type of non-Newtonian fluid has been developed. It became hardened upon a shock impact which was observed through a drop-on-weight test. The non-Newtonian fluid was successfully applied on to a traditional plain weave body armour fabric made of Twaron®. The treated fabric was studied by scanning electron microscopy and a yarn pulling-out test. It shows that the force to pull out a yarn from the non-Newtonian fluid treated fabric is four times higher than that of the untreated one. The flexibility of the non-Newtonian polymer treated fabric remains unchanged. The polymer can be used for applications where impact protection can be a highly desirable property.

Low-Velocity Impact Response of Auxetic Seamless Knits Combined with Non-Newtonian Fluids

“…However, when the shear rate is increased to a critical value, the viscosity also increases at a high rate. At this point, the fluid changes to a solid-state [ 6 , 8 , 9 ]. Due to this ability, the non-Newtonian fluid can have an important role in impact dynamics [ 10 ], since it positively influences the mechanical properties and increases parameters performance such as energy absorption [ 9 ].…”

Interplay of fabric structure and shear thickening fluid impregnation in moderating the impact response of high-performance woven fabrics

“…Over the years, researchers have explored diverse means to improvise the existing body armour technologies. Some of their significant efforts, in this direction, involve supplanting p-aramid (Kevlar V R or Technora V R ) fibres with ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) fibres, 1,2 digging into different structures like unidirectional (UD) laminates [3][4][5] and three-dimensional (3 D) fabrics [6][7][8] other than conventional two-dimensional (2 D) woven fabrics, carrying out surface treatments like shear thickening fluid (STF) impregnation, [9][10][11][12][13] plasma assisted deposition of vapours or nanoparticles, 14,15 nanostructure grafting, [16][17][18] rubber coating, 19,20 etc.…”

Novel Alumina Compounds with Niobia, Silica and Magnesia for Ballistic Armor

“…Ceramics, such as alumina, have been investigated in the past decades for application as ballistic armor of military vehicles, due to their high hardness and low weight, promoting the fragmentation of projectile during impact with low surface density of the armor [1][2][3][4][5].…”

“…The action of the ceramic materials of high hardness in conjugated armoring is effective, because when the projectile reaches the target, a very small region is subjected to high compression, which causes a cone of fractures [1,3,11]. A change in the geometry of the projectile's tip directly affects its kinetic energy.…”

“…A change in the geometry of the projectile's tip directly affects its kinetic energy. Thus, a ceramic material with satisfactory hardness is desirable in order to dissipate part of the kinetic energy of the projectile by the erosion of its tip [1][2][3][4][5]11].…”