The role of impact energy and silica concentration on dynamic impact and quasi-static puncture resistance of fabrics treated with shear-thickening fluids

Aşkan A., AYDIN M.

Composite Structures, cilt.352, 2025 (SCI-Expanded) identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 352
  • Basım Tarihi: 2025
  • Doi Numarası: 10.1016/j.compstruct.2024.118689
  • Dergi Adı: Composite Structures
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, Aerospace Database, Chimica, Communication Abstracts, Compendex, INSPEC, Metadex, Civil Engineering Abstracts
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: Body armour, Energy absorbtion, Impact resistance, Knife puncture resistance, Nanoparticles, Shear thickening fluid (STF)
  • Erciyes Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

The primary objective of this study is to reveal the role of shear-thickening fluids on the low-speed impact behavior and quasi-static puncture resistance conditions of impregnated p-aramid fabric. This was achieved by progressively increasing the silica ratio methodically. Rheological experiments indicated that 60% represents a crucial threshold for silica content, over which the rheological performance of fluids markedly improves. The impregnated targets exhibited a substantial increase in both dynamic impact and quasi-static puncture resistance in comparison to the neat fabric. Results from tests using the same amount of impact energy showed that impregnated targets had much better impact resistance (ranging from 30.5% to 119.2%) and better energy absorption (ranging from 22.9% to 61.3%) than the untreated targets. In quasi-static tests, impregnated targets exhibited significantly higher puncture resistance, ranging from 42.3% to 90.46%, compared to the neat fabric. The enhanced performance of impregnated targets was ascribed to the presence of interfiber friction, the thickening mechanism of the fluid, and the hardness of the particles. Compared to the neat fabric, the performance enhancement achieved in dynamic impact tests is greater than that observed in quasistatic tests. The variation in performance was associated with the contact area of the threat with the target. Due to the intense force exerted by the knife tip, its contact area with the target is smaller in comparison to that of the impactor. This caused the particle hardness and thickening mechanism to play a lesser role in quasi-static tests compared to impact tests. In addition, to reveal the effect of impact energy, tests were carried out at three different impact energy levels: 20J, 40J, and 60J. The impact resistance of both neat and impregnated textiles improved as the impact energy went up. Nevertheless, the neat fabric exhibited a greater augmentation in resistance in contrast to the impregnated one.