Shear thickening fluids based on nanosized silica suspensions for advanced body armour
Łukasz Wierzbicki, Anna Danelska, Karolina Olszewska, Mariusz Tryznowski, Dorota Zielińska Iwona Kucińska, Mikołaj Szafran, Marcin Leonowicz
Quarterly No. 4, 2013 pages 241-244
DOI:
keywords: shear, thickening, fluid, armour, rheology, para-aramid composites
abstract Composite structures built of para-aramid fabric and shear thickening fluid (STF) are developed in the light of their potential application in smart body armour. The study reports on the rheological behaviour of nanosized silica suspensions. Depending on the oligomer chemical structure and molecular weight, we observe different behaviour under shear stress. The STF composed of PPG400 and containing various volume fraction of FS showed good time stability. The compositions containing 6.5 and 11.7 vol. % of silica maintain their rheological properties, although the composition with the highest concentration of solid phase lost about 20% of its maximum viscosity value after 40 days in a closed vial. The addition of colloidal shear thickening fluids to para-aramid woven fabric (Twaron® CT709) showed enhanced ballistic penetration resistance of the elaborated system for Parabellum 9mm bullet.