Energy Absorption Behaviour of Kevlar Impregnated with Shear Thickening Fluid Under Low Velocity Impact

Authors

  • Kamaruddin N.Z.I. School of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 UTM Johor Bahru, Johor
  • Yahya M.Y. School of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 UTM Johor Bahru, Johor

Keywords:

Shear thickening fluid, energy absorption, impact test, fabric composite

Abstract

Shear thickening fluid (STF) has been exploited in combination with high performance fabric such as Kevlar to produce new thin, flexible, lightweight, and inexpensive material that is equivalent or even better performance than existing body protection materials. This area of research has received a great deal of attention and number of publications related to STF studies has remarkably increasing in the past decade. However, up until now, there are still no clear and specific method or formulation to the production of smart materials from STF. Hence, the purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of different impregnation methods of Kevlar/STF fabric composites to the energy absorption behaviour of the composites under low velocity impact and to study the effect of STF-impregnated Kevlar to inter-yarn friction properties to support the mechanism of energy absorption. The composition of STF used in this study were 15 weight percentage (wt%) and 20 wt%. The first method (Method A) used to fabricate Kevlar/STF composites was adopted from previous studies, where dry STF was produced prior to the impregnation process. Ethanol was added to the STF to improve dispersibility of the mixture and after that the sample was dried in the oven to remove the ethanol. For the second method (Method B), Kevlar was directly impregnated with the mixture of ethanol, fumed silica particles and polyethylene glycol (PEG), before drying in the oven to produce the Kevlar/STF fabric composites. The performance of the composites fabricated using the first and second methods was analysed through drop weight impact test under low velocity and single yarn pull-out test. Kevlar impregnated with 20 wt% of STF showed significantly better performance than Kevlar impregnated with STF of 15 wt%. Between the first and second method, the latter shows better improvement by 19% in terms of the energy absorption.

References

Ding J., Tracey P., Li, W., Peng G., WhittenP. and Wallace G., 2013. Review on Shear Thickening Fluids and Applications. Textiles and Light Industrial Science and Technology, 2(4): 161–173.

Xu Y., Chen X., Wang Y. and YuanZ., 2017. Stabbing Resistance of Body Armour Panels Impregnated with Shear Thickening Fluid, Composite Structures, 163: 465–473.

He Q., Cao S., Wang Y.P., Xuan S.H., Wang P.F. and Gong X.L., 2018. Impact Resistance of Shear Thickening Fluid/Kevlar Composite Treated with Shear-stiffening Gel,Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing, 106: 82–90.

Hasanzadeh M. and Mottaghitalab V., 2014. The Role of Shear-thickening Fluids (STFs) in Ballistic and Stab-resistance Improvement of Flexible Armor,Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance, 23(4): 1182–1196.

Yang H.H., 1993. Kevlar Aramid Fiber, John Wiley & Sons, Chichester.

Lee Y.S., Wetzel E.D. and Wagner N.J., 2003. The Ballistic Impact Characteristics of Kevlar® Woven Fabrics Impregnated with a Colloidal Shear Thickening Fluid,Journal of Materials Science, 38(13): 2825–2833.

Decker M.J., Egres R.G., Wetzel E.D. and Wagner N.J., 2005. Low Velocity Ballistic Properties of Shear Thickening Fluid (STF)–Fabric Composites,Proceedings of 22ndInternational Symposium on Ballistics.

Decker M.J., Halbach C.J., Nam C.H., Wagner N.J. and Wetzel E.D., 2007. Stab Resistance of Shear Thickening Fluid (STF)-treated Fabrics,Composites Science and Technology, 67(3–4): 565–578.

Kang T.J., Hong K.H. and Yoo M.R., 2010. Preparation and Properties of Fumed Silica/Kevlar Composite Fabrics for Application of Stab Resistant Material, Fibers and Polymers, 11(5): 719–724.

Srivastava, A., Majumdar A. and Butola B.S., 2011. Improving the Impact Resistance Performance of Kevlar Fabrics using Silica Based Shear Thickening Fluid,Materials Science and Engineering A, 529(1): 224–229.

Majumdar A., Butola B.S. and Srivastava A., 2013. An Analysis of Deformation and Energy Absorption Modes of Shear Thickening Fluid Treated Kevlar Fabrics as Soft Body Armour Materials,Materials and Design, 51: 148–153.

Egres R.G.J., Lee Y.S., Kirkwood J.E., Wetzel E.D. and Wagner N.J., 2004. Liquid Armor, Protective Fabrics Utilizing Shear Thickening Fluids,IFAI 4th International Conference on Safety and Protective Fabrics, 1–8.

Hoffman R.L., 1974. Discontinuous and Dilatant Viscosity Behavior in Concentrated Suspensions.II. Theory and Experimental Tests,Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, 46(3): 491–506.

Brady J.F. and Bossis G., 1985. The Rheology of Concentrated Suspensions of Spheres in Simple Shear Flow by Numerical Simulation,Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 155: 105–129.

Grujicic M., Bell W.C., Arakere G., He T., Xie X. and Cheeseman B.A., 2010. Development of a Meso-scale Material Model for Ballistic Fabric and Its Use in Flexible-Armor Protection Systems,J Mater Eng Perform, 19:.22–39.

Downloads

Published

2020-12-20

How to Cite

N.Z.I., K., & M.Y., Y. (2020). Energy Absorption Behaviour of Kevlar Impregnated with Shear Thickening Fluid Under Low Velocity Impact. Jurnal Mekanikal, 42(2). Retrieved from https://jurnalmekanikal.utm.my/index.php/jurnalmekanikal/article/view/386

Issue

Section

Mechanical

Similar Articles

<< < 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 > >> 

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.