Fabric Impregnation with Shear Thickening Fluid for Ballistic Armor Polymer Composites: An Updated Overview

Abstract

As destructive power of firearms raises over the years, ballistic armors are in continuous need of enhancement. For soft armors, this improvement is invariably related to the increase of stacked layers of high-strength fiber fabrics, which potentially restrains wearer mobility. A different solution was created in the early 2000s, when a research work proposed a new treatment of the ballistic panels with non-Newtonian colloidal shear thickening fluid (STF), in view of weight decreasing with strength reinforcement and cost-effective production. Since then, databases reveal a surge in publications generally pointing to acceptable features under ballistic impact by exploring different conditions of the materials adopted. As a result, several works have not been covered in recent reviews for a wider discussion of their methodologies and results, which could be a barrier to a deeper understanding of the behavior of STF-impregnated fabrics. Therefore, the present work aims to overview the unexplored state-of-art on the effectiveness of STF addition to high-strength fabrics for ballistic applications to compile achievements regarding the ballistic strength of this novel material through different parameters. From the screened papers, SiO2, Polyethylene glycol (PEG) 200 and 400, and Aramid are extensively being incorporated into the STF/Fabric composites. Besides, parameters such as initial and residual velocity, energy absorbed, ballistic limit, and back face signature are common metrics for a comprehensive analysis of the ballistic performance of the material. The overview also points to a promising application of natural fiber fabrics and auxetic fabrics with STF fluids, as well as the demand for the adoption of new materials and more homogeneous ballistic test parameters. Finally, the work emphasizes that the ballistic application for STF-impregnated fabric based on NIJ standards is feasible for several conditions.

Shear Thickening Fluid and Its Application in Impact Protection: A Review

“…The common particles and carrier fluids of STFs are summarized in Table 1 . The shear thickening mechanisms, material composition, fabrication methods, rheological properties and factors influencing shear thickening behavior have been reviewed by many researchers [ 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 ].…”

“…Some approaches to improve the ballistic performance including surface treatments and modifications of fabrics in STF-based soft body armor were elucidated [ 11 , 51 ]. The applications of various STF impregnated fabric composites and the STFs’ contribution on improving the impact, ballistic and stab resistance performance were investigated by many researchers [ 21 , 52 ]. Mechanistic problems due to sudden change in viscosity and recent developments of simulations of the effect of contact forces were discussed in the STF [ 53 ].…”

Design and Ballistic Performance of Hybrid Plates Manufactured from Aramid Composites for Developing Multilayered Armor Systems

“…Since polyurea can absorb a large amount of impact energy before failure, it has been used as a protective coating or as an interlayer material for structures and composite systems in military applications such as blast shock and bulletproofing [37,[50][51][52][53][54]. However, experimental observations of the single-ply fabric system could not show the interaction between the fabrics in the multilayered armor systems, so it is necessary to confirm this property by studying the target of the multi-ply fabric under impact loading.…”

A Novel Multi-Scale Ceramic-Based Array (SiCb+B4Cp)/7075Al as Promising Materials for Armor Structure

“…In the field of armor materials, with the advancement of anti-armor weapon development, it is difficult for a single material to meet the growing protection demands; thereby, composite samples prepared for being used in the fabrication of armor have received attention [1][2][3][4]. These composite samples, combining various materials, can fully exploit the advantageous properties of each material to achieve excellent protection performance while maintaining the integrity of the target plate.…”

“…Titanium alloys may exhibit sudden failure during penetration due to adiabatic shear instability [19,20]. Fiber composite materials have relatively lower shear strength and face challenges related to high production costs and limited environmental adaptability [4,21,22]. In contrast, on top of the high strength, low density, and low cost of aluminum alloy, aluminum composite materials offer excellent design flexibility, providing greater possibilities for optimizing the structure and performance of composite armor.…”