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

Abstract

The beneficial effect of STF impregnation in enhancing the impact resistance of high-performance fabrics has been extensively reported in the literature. However, this research work reports that fabric structure has a decisive role in moderating the effectiveness of STF impregnation in terms of impact energy absorption. Plain woven fabrics having sett varying from 25 × 25 inch−1 to 55 × 55 inch−1 were impregnated with STF at two different padding pressures to obtain different add-ons. The impact energy absorption by STF impregnated loosely woven fabrics was found to be higher than that of their neat counterparts for both levels of add-on, while opposite trend was observed in case of tightly woven fabrics. Further, comparison of tightly woven plain, 2/2 twill, 3/1 twill and 2 × 2 matt fabrics revealed beneficial effect of STF impregnation, except for the plain woven fabric, establishing that there exists a fabric structure-STF impregnation interplay that tunes the impact resistance of woven fabrics.

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

“…After that, the fabric is finally soaked into the solution for a preset time and dried until the alcohol is volatilized. Different works suggest a padding process before drying for removing excess fluid, indicating an increase in yarn friction [ 101 , 102 ] due to a decrease in STF add-on, resulting in a more balanced friction factor, preventing the fabric from an easy pullout or fiber break under impact.…”

“…It is also worth noting that Grineviciute et al [ 167 ] adopt water as one of the phases for STF impregnation. Different works have already explored water as a dispersion phase in viscous fluid [ 23 , 94 , 101 , 187 , 188 , 189 , 190 ]. For ballistic application, Bablu and Manimala [ 177 ] investigated the STF-impregnated Kevlar fabrics using water as the liquid medium for SiO nanoparticle dispersion.…”

Impact characteristics of soft composites using shear thickening fluid and natural rubber–A review of current status

“…As can be seen, the STF-reinforced Kevlar fabrics exhibited larger deformation localization than the neat fabric. It is worth mentioning that the STF effect is dependent on a number of variables, including the fabric structure, Panel configuration, angular orientations and thread density [169][170][171][172]. Laha and Majumdar [173]fabricated five weave patterns by changing the paramid (Technora) yarn density and incorporated treatment using an STF suspension at a fraction of 60% to produce soft armor materials.…”

Parametric optimisation of shear thickening fluid treatment for ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene woven fabric

“…At present, SAPs are made of multiple layers of woven fabrics or unidirectional (UD) laminates of para-aramid or ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) fibres. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7] In recent years, UD laminates of UHMWPE have gained more attention due to its weight advantage and superior ballistic performance.…”