Thesis Energy Dissipating Composite System Utilizing STF

DEVELOPMENT OF HIGH ENERGY DISSIPATION COMPOSITE
SYSTEM UTILIZING SHEAR THICKENING MATERIALS
PHYO KHANT
A THESIS SUBMITTED
FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ENGINEERING
DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING
NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE
2011
Acknowledgements
I would like to express my deep and sincere gratitude to my supervisors, Professor

Liew Jat Yuen Richard and Associate Professor Tan Beng Chye Vincent, for their
valuable guidance and support throughout the course of this project.
Special thanks goes to Dr Davy Cheong for his kind guidance as well as his
constructive advice and encouragement from beginning to end of my research work.
I gratefully acknowledge to Ang Kah Yee (National Junior College), Wong Ting
Chong and Sai Murugan Pandit (FYP students from Mechanical Engineering,NUS)
for their valuable assistance and contributions to my research work.
I would like to express my gratitude to the lab officers of NUS Impact Lab, Mr. Alvin
Goh and Mr. Joe Low for their help and timely advice.
I especially want to thank my wife for her understanding, support and motivation.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements.i
Table of Contents...ii
Summary...vi
List of Figures ....viii
List of Tables.......xii
1
Introduction......1
1.1 Objectives.........3
1.2 Scope ..4
Literature Review .5
2.1 Soft body armor....5
2.2 Behind armor blunt trauma...6
2.3 Shear thickening fluids.....8
2.3.1 Mechanism of shear thickening
....10
2.3.2 Order-disorder theory....10

2.3.3 Hydrocluster theory...11
2.3.4 Applications of shear thickening fluids ....12
Drop Impact response of shear thickening fluids...13

3.1 Introduction....13
3.2 Experiment.....14
3.2.1 Materials.............................................................................................................14
3.2.2 Experimental set-up and test method..................................................................15
3.3 Results and discussion................................................................................................16
3.4 Conclusion..................................................................................................................20
Reducing blunt trauma with shear thickening fluids..21

ii
Table of Contents
4.2 Experimental set-up....22
4.2.1 Test materials....23
4.2.1.1 Shear thickening fluids..23
4.2.1.2 Ballistic fabric
.....23
4.2.1.3 Clay backing..25

4.2.2 Experimental method......25
4.3 Ballistic limit for the Twaron CT717 fabric
...26
4.4 Blunt trauma tests on STF packages with different concentration .....27
4.5 Development of STF-fabric composite pad
...29
4.5.1 Effectiveness of different combination of composite systems

for blunt trauma reduction29
4.5.2 The effectiveness of STF at impact velocity of 145 m/s....31
4.5.3 The effectiveness of epoxy treated Twaron fabric in
STF packages......32
4.5.4 The effectiveness of STF-fabric composite system........34
4.6 Development of STF-fabric blunt trauma pad.......36
4.7 Energy dissipation mechanism of STF-fabric composite pad....38
4.8 Conclusion..41
Reducing blunt trauma with shear thickening polymers....43

5.2 Experimental set-up and method of testing....44
5.3 Effectiveness of shear thickening polymer (STP)-fabric composite pad46
5.4 Performance comparison of STP and STF composite pad.....49
5.5 Ballistic impact tests with varying thickness of STP composite pad53
5.6 Mechanism for DOP reduction due to interaction between
STP and Twaron fabric...54
5.7 Conclusion.56
Improving ballistic limit with shear thickening polymers ....57
iii
Table of Contents
6.1 Introduction57
6.2 Experimental set-up and test materials...58
6.2.1 Experimental set-up....58
6.2.2 Test materials..59
6.2.2.1 Ballistic fabric...59
6.2.2.2 Shear thickening polymer (STP) pad....59
6.3 Results and discussion....60
6.3.1 Ballistic limit (BL) for STP composite pad....60
6.3.2 Energy absorption capacity of STP pad.....63
6.4 Conclusion..65
Incorporation of epoxy treated Twaron fabric for impact protection.66

7.1 Introduction66
7.2 Test materials and methods....67
7.3 Ballistic performance of stacking sequence of neat and
epoxy treated fabric plies...69
7.4 Mode of deformation and energy absorption mechanisms....75
7.5 Ballistic impact tests on epoxy treated Twaron fabric with
STP fabric composite blunt trauma pad .............................................................76
7.6 Conclusion......77
Application of shear thickening polymers in hip protectors..79

8.2 Materials and testing method.........80
8.3 Results and discussion....82
8.4 Conclusion..85
Conclusion..86
10 References..89
Appendix A
Compression of clay backing...96
iv
Table of Contents
Appendix B
Measurement of DOP in clay backing.97
Appendix C
Fibrous surfaces used for ballistic impact test on STP packages.....98
Appendix D
Dimensions of metal box containing clay backing......99
Appendix E
Dimensions of wooden box containing clay backing.100
Appendix F
Detailed results for ballistic tests on STP packages...101
Appendix G
Detailed results for ballistic impact (blunt trauma) tests

on STP packages....102
Appendix H
Detailed results for ballistic impact test for epoxy treated

Twaron fabric systems...104
Summary
Summary
In this research, novel impact energy dissipation composite systems which utilize
shear thickening materials is developed and explored. With the aim of reduction nonperforating behind armor injuries, flexible impact energy dissipation systems using
cornstarch-water suspension as the shear thickening fluids (STF) were fabricated and
tested.
Firstly low velocity impact response of the shear thickening fluid with
different concentration was performed. The performance of impact resistance was

investigated in terms of penetration depths in clay witness placed behind the STF. The
concentration of 58.82wt% of cornstarch showed the best performance in resisting
impact forces.
A new composite system comprising woven Twaron ballistic fabric impregnated with
shear thickening fluid is introduced next. The ballistic impact response of the system
was studied. Impact tests suggest that the combination of the fabric layers and shear
thickening fluids resulted in greater impact energy dissipation. It was also shown that
developed STF-fabric pad is effective in reducing blunt trauma.
Thereafter, a new shear thickening material was introduced and a shear thickening
polymer (STP)-fabric composite pad was developed. The effectiveness of the STP
with different composite layers was studied. The STP pad containing 4 plies (2 x 2) of
epoxy treated Twaron gave the lowest depth of penetration in clay witness. Results
showed that the STP is most effective in reducing blunt trauma when used in
conjunction with armor fabric due to the interaction between both materials. This
interaction results in greater energy absorption and dissipation possibly due to
vi
Summary
increased stiffness, viscous dissipation and increased inter-yarn friction caused by
shear thickening of the STP during impact. The 6 mm thick STP-fabric composite pad
was found to reduce blunt trauma by 25% when placed behind flexible body armor.
The study also investigated the effects of adding epoxy treated layers in fabric
systems. Results showed that the addition of epoxy treated layers was effective in
reducing blunt trauma and this is attributed to increased stiffness, inter-yarn friction
and fabric projectile friction. Additionally, the placement of neat layers in front of
treated layers in fabric systems was found to be most effective in reducing blunt
trauma. This suggests that the stacking sequences of neat and epoxy treated fabric
plies are found to be important in improving protective performance, which affected
not only the back face signature (BFS) but also the ballistic limit.
vii
List of Figures
List of Figures
Figure 2.1 Wave propagation in soft body armour due to projectile impact...5
Figure 2.2 Classification of fluids based on the stress versus rate of
strain relationship....8
Figure 2.3 Shear thickening behavior (viscosity vs shear rate) of 57 and 62
volume % colloidal silica dispersed in ethylene glycol for
steady shear flow....9
Figure 2.4 Hydrocluster theory for shear thickening suspension morphology..11
Figure 3.1 Micrograph of cornstarch particles...14
Figure 3.2 Steady-state shear rheology of 55wt% cornstarch in water suspension...14
Figure 3.3 Drop tower set-up ....15
Figure 3.4 Perspex acrylic container with clay witness for drop testing15
Figure 3.5 Photo of Twaron fabric with aluminum legs....15
Figure 3.6 Depth of penetration in clay backing for 0.5m drop tests onto
10 mm of STF ..17
Figure 3.7 Depth of penetration in clay backing for 0.5m drop tests onto
20 mm of STF ..18
Figure 3.8 Penetration depth versus drop impact energy from drop tests onto
20 mm STF at 58.82wt% concentration .......19
Figure 3.9 Shear thickening zones developed upon impact onto STF
covered by Twaron fabric with aluminum legs....20
Figure 4.1 Thin rubber encapsulated cornstarch suspension for impact
absorption ...23
Figure 4.2 Clay witness......25
viii
List of Figures
Figure 4.3 Schematic diagram of high pressure gas gun set-up for ballistic
tests...25
Figure 4.4 Depth of penetration in clay witness for systems of different
concentration of STF covered with 1 ply of Twaron for ballistic
tests at 75 m/s.......28
Figure 4.5 Depth of penetration in clay witness for different STF
composite systems for ballistic test at 75 m/s...30
Figure 4.6 Depth of penetration in clay witness for STF and water systems
of same thickness of 20 mm for ballistic tests at 145 m/s....31
Figure 4.7 Depth of penetration in clay witness for STF systems of same
weight of 255g for ballistic tests at 145 m/s.........................33
Figure 4.8 Depth of penetration in clay witness for systems without STF for
ballistic tests at 145 m/s....34
Figure 4.9 Depth of penetration in clay witness for systems of same weight
of 255g for ballistic tests at 145 m/s.....35
Figure 4.10 Depth of penetration in clay witness for systems of same thickness
of 20 mm for ballistic tests at 350 m/s..............................37
Figure 4.11 Front (Left) and back face (Right) of STF-fabric
composite pad after 350 m/s impact.....38
Figure 4.12 Clay witness after projectile impact at 350 m/s for STF-fabric
composite pad (Target D).....38
Figure 4.13 Impact sequence of STF-fabric composite pad.....40
Figure 4.14 Damage in integrated plies after impact.......41
Figure 5.1 Target set-up for assessing blunt trauma in ballistic testing.....44
ix
List of Figures
Figure 5.2 Shear thickening polymer (STP) pad (Left) and shear thickening
fluid (STF) pad (Right).....45
Figure 5.3 Depth of penetration in clay witness for STP systems of same
thickness of 15mm for ballistic tests at 150 m/s...46
Figure 5.4 Depth of penetration in clay witness for STP-epoxy systems
of same thickness of 15 mm for ballistic tests at 150 m/s ...48
Figure 5.5 Comparison of depths of penetration in clay witness for STP and
STF systems of same thickness of 15 mm for ballistic tests at 150 m/s
(without fibrous interlayer)...50
STF systems of same thickness of 15 mm for ballistic tests at 150 m/s
(with fibrous interlayer)....51
STF systems of different weight and thickness for ballistic
tests at 150 m/s..52
Figure 5.8 Shear thickening in STP due to transverse deflection (Left) and
In-plane deflection (Right) of fabric.54
Figure 6.1 Target set-up for obtaining ballistic limit.59
Figure 6.2 Residual velocity for systems with and without STP at striking
velocity of 400 m/s.......64
Figure 6.3 Energy absorbed by systems with and without STP at the impact
energy of 960 J......65
Figure 7.1 Set-up for measuring the flexibility of test system...69
Figure 7.2 Depth of penetration in clay witness for systems with combinations
of neat and epoxy treated Twaron fabric for ballistic tests at 330m/s
List of Figures
(epoxy treated plies placed at backface)...70
Figure 7.3 Depth of penetration in clay witness for systems with combinations
of neat and epoxy treated Twaron fabric for ballistic tests at 330m/s
(epoxy treated plies placed at striking face).....71
Figure 7.4 Percentage of perforated plies for systems with combinations of
neat and epoxy treated Twaron fabric for ballistic tests at 330m/s....72
Figure 7.5 Average depth of penetration in clay witness versus percentage of
perforated plies for neat-epoxy treated systems for ballistic tests
at 330m/s...73
Figure 7.6 Average depth of penetration in clay witness versus bending angle
for neat-epoxy treated systems.74
Figure 7.7 A perforated layer neat fabric (Left) and epoxy treated fabric (Right)....75
Figure 7.8 Depth of penetration in clay witness for neat-epoxy treated composite
systems with and without STP for ballistic tests at 350 m/s.....77
Figure 8.1 Hip protectors : (top left) Hip Saver; (top right) Safehip; (bottom left)
Hornsby hip protector; (bottom right) Impactwear shields. .....80
Figure 8.2 Flexible shear thickening polymer pads (left) 15 mm thick;
(right) 25 mm thick ......80
Figure 8.3 Drop weight impact set-up for testing hip protectors ..81
Figure 8.4 Average peak force transmitted through hip protectors for impact
energy of 1.467 J ..84
Figure 8.5 Force transmitted through hip protectors versus time for impact
energy of 1.467 J...84
xi
List of Tables
List of Tables
Table 4.1 Twaron CT717 fabric specifications......24

Table 4.2 Properties of Twaron fibres....24
Table 4.3 Results of ballistic tests on 1 ply of Twaron CT717 fabric........27
Table 4.4 Results of ballistic tests on 2 plies of Twaron CT717 fabric.....27
Table 5.1 Depth of penetration in clay witness for different thickness of
STP pad with frontal fabric layers......53
Table 6.1 Description of systems tested for ballistic limit.....60
Table 6.2 Results of ballistic tests for 2 plies of Twaron fabric (System A).61
Table 6.3 Results of ballistic tests for 2 plies of Twaron fabric and 4 plies
of epoxy treated Twaron (System B).....61
Table 6.4 Results of ballistic tests for 2 plies of Twaron fabric and
15mm thick STP pad (System C)...61
Table 7.1 Areal densities of different combination of neat and epoxy treated
Twaron fabric.....68
Table 8.1 Description of hip protectors......81
xii
Chapter 1 Introduction
1 Introduction
The main function of anti-ballistic body armor is to provide protection to the wearer
by resisting projectile penetration and reducing its kinetic energy. However, even if
the projectile does not perforate the armor, the armor may deform significantly when
the projectile is stopped causing injury to the wearer. This is known as blunt trauma.
The degree of blunt trauma experienced by the wearer depends on the extent of
inward deformation of armor after impact [1]. A number of new concepts have been
proposed to reduce blunt trauma caused by back-face deformation.
Recent studies have shown that good improvement in the ballistic resistance of fabric
armor materials can be achieved when they are impregnated with a shear thickening
fluid [2]. Various commercial products have also utilized polymeric materials with
shear thickening properties for low velocity impact shock absorption in sports and
industrial applications. This suggests that it may be also possible to utilize shear
thickening materials for reducing high velocity ballistic impacts.
Shear thickening fluids have fueled much interest in the field of personal protection
and are currently widely studied because of their unique ability to transform from a
low viscous to a high viscous state almost instantaneously. This ability makes them
ideal for energy absorption applications. While the fluid is in a low viscous state
under normal conditions, it allows for user mobility and flexibility, but as it undergoes
shear-thickening when subjected to an impact, it absorbs some of the energy of the
impact while helping to dissipate the remaining energy.
Shear thickening fluids are also of particular interest because of their method of
deployment or activation. They do not need any external activation from the user,
but will activate when subjected to a critical stress loading. The armed forces are
particularly interested in these fluids as there is a pressing need for personal
protection gear that is efficient in energy absorption yet still flexible enough to wear
in combat where soldier mobility and comfort are vital.
Particularly promising is the application of these fluids for Traumatic Brain Injury
(TBI) protection and Primary Blast Injuries (PBI) mitigation. Mitigation of these
injuries can potentially benefit from the development of shear thickening fluid based
composites as they require materials that have the potential of absorbing large amount
of energies while maintaining flexibility and comfort during normal use.
In this work we investigate how shear thickening fluids can be efficiently utilized as
part of energy absorbing composites for blunt trauma applications. For this purpose, a
STF-fabric composite system will be developed. The shear thickening properties of
cornstarchwater suspension (STF1) will be exploited for use in high velocity impact
absorption, particularly to reduce behind amour injuries. A proof that such a system
can effectively reduce such injuries is sought. To achieve this, a series of tests
designed to replicate the impact conditions generating behind amour injuries will be
performed. Twaron fabric, commonly used in soft body armor, is packaged with the
cornstarch-water suspension (STF) in different configurations and performance
indicators are measured and analyzed.
1 For subsequent parts of this thesis, cornstarch-water suspension shall be referred to as STF
Thereafter, flexible blunt trauma pads made from polymers with shear thickening
properties (STP) will be subjected to testing. Although, polymers with shear
thickening properties are commonly used for protective gears in the sports industry,
the concept of using them for body armor blunt trauma protection is relatively new. In
these tests, the effectiveness of blunt trauma pads made from shear thickening
polymer (STP) in reducing blunt trauma will be investigated and alternative systems
to improve ballistic properties of existing soft body amour will be proposed.
Subsequently, the ballistic performance of the STF and STP will be compared and
discussed.
In addition, the ballistic performance of epoxy treated Twaron fabric will also
investigated as studies have been shown that the friction between the yarns of fabric
can be increased by applying a thin layer of epoxy onto the neat fabric. Furthermore,
the effect of stacking sequence of neat and epoxy treated fabrics will be discussed
based on their ballistic performance and flexibility.
1.1 Objectives
The main objectives of this investigation are as follows:
To study the low velocity impact (i.e., drop impact) response of the STF
To develop and evaluate the effectiveness of STF-fabric composites in

absorbing high velocity impacts
To develop and evaluate the effectiveness of STP-fabric composites in

absorbing high velocity impacts
To investigate the effect of stacking sequence of neat and epoxy treated

ballistic fabrics in absorbing impact energy
1.2 Scope
The scope of this study encompasses the followings:
To conduct drop testing to study the low velocity impact response of the STF.
To conduct ballistic impact tests based on NIJ standard 0101.06 using 12 mm

diameter spherical shape projectiles fired from a helium gas gun to study the
high velocity impact response of the STF/STP-fabric composite systems.
To explore the application of the STP-fabric composite system.
Chapter 2 Literature Review

2 Literature Review
2.1 Soft body armor
Through history, humans have used various types of soft body armor such as animal
skin, chain mail, silk and nylon, etc., to protect themselves from injury in combat.
Nowadays, soft body armor is usually made up of high strength materials that can be
woven into a lightweight fabric with excellent ballistic resistant properties.
Traditional soft body amour materials, such as Kevlar, Twaron and Spectra have been
extensively used for flexible personnel body protection due to their high strength and
light weight characteristics [3]. Soft body armour consists of multiple layers of fabric.
When a projectile strikes the fabric, it is caught in a web of yarns to which its kinetic
energy is transferred [1]. As a result, two waves, in-plane and transverse, propagate
from the point of impact (Figure 2.1).
Yar
n
Figure 2.1: Wave propagation in soft body armour due to projectile impact [4]
This kinetic energy, carried by the stress waves, is dissipated through yarn
deformations and inter-yarn friction when they slip or slide against each other [4]. The
energy is absorbed by each successive layer of the fabric until the projectile is
stopped. Excessive impact energy may cause material damage such as fabric tear or

slit [1]. Factors affecting the ballistic performance of fabric armour include the fabric
material properties, weave architecture, inter-yarn friction, fabric-projectile friction,
interaction between layers and projectile geometry [4].
2.2
Behind armor blunt trauma
In addition to stopping bullets, body armor also has to protect users against blunt
trauma due to the high momentum and kinetic energy of bullets. This is because even
though the bullet does not contact the body, some of the kinetic energy may be
transferred through the armor backing and body wall, causing injury to the internal
organs. This form of non-penetrating injuries resulting from the impact of projectiles
is commonly termed behind armor blunt trauma (BABT) [5].
Behind armor blunt trauma (BABT) is the spectrum of non-penetrating injuries

resulting from the rapid deformation of armor covering the body [5]. The deformation
of the surface of the armor in contact with the body wall arises from the retardation
and energy absorbing process that captures the impacting projectile. This deformation
applies shear to the local underlying tissues and causes them to accelerate suddenly.
This generates stress and shear waves that propagate through the body and damage
tissue and internal organs. The type and severity of injuries from blunt impact are
dependent upon the magnitude of the deflection of the body wall, and most
importantly upon the rate of the deflection [5].
To increase protection against blunt trauma, the usual method is to add more fabric
layers or ceramic inserts. However, this is done at the expense of increasing weight of

the amour and reducing the wearers mobility [3]. The addition of blunt trauma pads
has become an alternative solution to reduce blunt trauma caused by backface
deformation. Such pads are positioned between the bulletproof vests and body to
provide additional protection for critical areas like the heart and lungs. There have
already been applications of such pads for protective gears used in sports and heavy
industries. However, they are not widely used in the development of body armor.
In soft ballistic armor, deformations due to bullet impact are much larger than in hard
armors. This give rise to another form of behind armor injury termed the backface
signature injury (BFS). This was defined by Bir [6], roughly, as an open penetrating
wound that occurs even though the bullet did not penetrate the vest. The BFS causes
a much more localized damage than BABT. Although the exact mechanism of how
BFS occurs is unknown, a study done by Bir et al [6, 7] suggests that an important
parameter creating the injury is the energy density or the energy per unit area of the
deforming fabric.
Therefore, a person wearing armor may be exposed to two kinds of injury even if the
armor is not penetrated. A hybrid injury pattern arising from BABT and BFS is term
penciling or ballistic punch in the literature [6]. However, for simplicity and
consistency with commonplace usage, we shall use the term blunt trauma to refer to
all forms of behind armor injury.

2.3 Shear thickening fluids
A dilatant, which is also termed shear thickening material, is one in which viscosity
increases with the rate of shear. The dilatant effect can be found when closely packed
particles are combined with enough liquid to fill the gaps between them. At low
velocities flow, the liquid acts as a lubricant, and the dilatant flows easily. At higher
velocities flow, the liquid is unable to fill the gaps created between particles, and
friction greatly increases, causing an increase in viscosity.
A shear thickening fluid is an example of a non-Newtonian fluid, a fluid whose flow

properties differ in any way from those of Newtonian fluids. Most commonly,
the viscosity of non-Newtonian fluids is not independent of shear rate or shear rate
history. In a Newtonian fluid, the relation between the shear stress and the shear rate
is linear, passing through the origin, the constant of proportionality being the
coefficient of viscosity. In a non-Newtonian fluid, the relation between the shear
stress and the shear rate is different, and can even be time-dependent.
Bingham Plastic
Shear Stress, t
Pseudoplastic Fluid
Dilatant Fluid
Newtonian Fluid
Shear Rate, k
Figure 2.2: Classification of fluids based on the stress versus rate of strain relationship

Shear thickening fluids are also referred to as field-activated fluids. This
phenomenon is described as a step like increase in viscosity when the applied rate
reaches a critical value; the fluids having low viscosity at imposed rates lower than
the critical value, and high viscosity when rate exceeds the critical value. The shear
thickening behavior can be continuous when the fluid viscosity gradually increases
after the critical shear rate or discontinuous if the viscosity jumps from one value to
another at one specific shear rate as in the case illustrated in Figure 2.2.
Shear thickening fluids are composed of highly concentrated suspensions dispersed in

a carrier fluid. The thickening behavior of these suspensions is normally seen at high
volume fraction so that the particles are dense enough that their average separation in
equilibrium conditions is less than the particles diameter and therefore multiple-body
and lubrication between the particles are of importance [8]. The shear thickening
behavior of these fluids have been studied for well over a half century [8, 9, 10, 11,
12].
Figure 2.3: Shear thickening behavior (viscosity vs shear rate) of 57 and 62 volume %
colloidal silica dispersed in ethylene glycol for steady shear flow. [2]
9

2.3.1 Mechanism of shear thickening
In the case of extreme or discontinuous shear thickening behavior, the fluid response
at the critical shear rate has been difficult to study since most rheometers are operated
by controlling the imposed deformation rate. Recently, the shear thickening
phenomenon was studied with the help of improved stress controlled rheometers and
additional techniques which can characterize the corresponding microstructure [1318]. Additionally, computer simulations have recently contribute to the understanding
of the shear thickening mechanism. Stokesian Dynamic techniques [19-22] are
commonly used to simulate the behavior of many-body interactions in the suspension,
but other methods, like dissipative particles dynamics [23], and the Lagrange
multiplier fictitious domain method [24] are also used. Two different mechanisms
have been proposed from such calculations to explain these fluids behavior - the
Order-Disorder theory and the Hydrocluster theory.
2.3.2 Order-disorder theory
The order-disorder mechanism was introduced by Hoffman [25] who observed that
mono-disperse suspensions under shear generate diffraction patterns under white
light. According to this theory, as the suspension is sheared, particles align in
hexagonally packed layers parallel to plane of shear. After a critical stress is reached,
flow instabilities start to grow and they induce particle motion out of their ordered
layers; these particles then collide and jam into each other and produce the rise in
viscosity.
10

2.3.3 Hydrocluster theory
Another explanation for the shear thickening behavior of concentrated suspension is

found in the Hydrocluster theory. This theory was first suggested by Bardy [19] on
the basis of Stokesian Dynamic simulations and was consequently supported through
rheo-optical experiment by Bender et al. [18] and DHaene [17]. This theory is based
on a model that accounts for the force balance between the hydrodynamic forces
imposed by a shearing flow and forces arising by inter-particles interaction. Stokesian
Dynamics simulations of Brady and Bossis [26] demonstrated the onset of transition
as the point at which the colloidal forces are balanced by short-range hydrodynamic
lubrication forces. At this point, the particles form dynamic aggregates known as
hydroclusters [14], which percolate and jam (Figure 2.4), resulting in a discontinuous
increase in viscosity [15].
Figure 2.4: Hydrocluster theory for shear thickening suspension morphology

(Wetzel and Wagner [27])
11

2.3.4 Applications of shear thickening fluids
The rheological response of shear thickening fluids to an imposed stress and the
associated energy absorption capability make them very good candidates for
composite materials for human protection applications. They can absorb energy
through the mechanism of viscous dissipation and during their thickening transition.
Additionally, they can remain at low viscosity and are therefore flexible during
normal operation and thicken only when a stress is imposed. Shear thickening fluids
do not require an external activation mechanism; rather they self activate under
stress.
12
Chapter 3 Drop Impact Response of Shear Thickening Fluids

3 Drop Impact Response of Shear Thickening Fluids
3.1 Introduction
The ballistic properties of Kevlar fabrics can be improved by the addition of shear
thickening colloidal suspensions [2, 33]. Investigations have shown that, under some
conditions, these shear thickening fluids-fiber composite offers ballistic properties
which are superior to neat (non-impregnated) fibers. Moreover, the addition of shear
thickening fluids was shown to cause little or no increase in the thickness or stiffness
of the fabric. Dischler et al. [34] used fibers coated with a dry powder that exhibits
dilatant properties. In their work, the fibers demonstrated an improved ability to
distribute energy during ballistic impact due to the enhanced inter-fiber friction.
Utilization of this shear thickening characteristic, the ballistic protection capability
afforded by fabricated, flexible body armor can be enhanced tremendously.
In this study, low velocity impact response of cornstarch-water suspension (STF) that
exhibits the shear thickening effect was investigated. Three STFs of concentration
based on weight ratio of water to cornstarch, (58.82wt%, 55.55wt% and 52.63wt %)
were prepared. In addition, the impact performance of STF covered with Twaron
fabric sheet and Twaron fabric with aluminum legs were also studied.
13

3.2 Experiment
3.2.1 Materials
The shear thickening fluids used in this study was cornstarch-water suspension (STF).
The average particle diameter was determined to be 15m (Figure 3.1). The density of
STF is about 1110 kg/m3.
Figure 3.1: Micrograph of cornstarch particles
Figure 3.2: Steady-state shear rheology of 55 wt% cornstarch in water suspension [35]
14
The Twaron fabric used in the tests was Twaron CT 714, a plain woven fabric of
high strength para-aramid fibers (poly-paraphenylene terephthalamide) with an areal
density of 190 g/m2.
3.2.2 Experimental set-up and test method
Drop tests were conducted on the STF using a 40 mm smooth bore drop tube and
2.669 kg spherical head steel indenter (Figure 3.3). A 6 mm thick Perspex acrylic tube
of 140 mm internal diameter was used as a container to hold the STF solution. A layer
of 20 mm thick Orchid modeling clay was placed at the bottom of the container as
clay witness (Figure 3.4).
Figure 3.4: Perspex acrylic container with clay

witness for drop testing
Figure 3.5: Photo of Twaron fabric with

aluminum legs
Figure 3.3: Drop tower set-up
15

To determine the impact resistance performance of different depths and concentration
of STF, the depth of indentation in the clay witness was measured using a vernier
caliper. In order to obtain consistent indentation depths of the clay witness layer, two
to three drop tests were performed at the same drop height and the depth of
penetration was checked before every round of tests.
In addition, the STF was covered with one layer of Twaron fabric to determine the
STF-fabric performance. A system of Twaron fabric with small aluminum legs
attached was also introduced as shown in Figure 3.5. Two sets of experiments were
performed. For the first set, the drop height was fixed at 0.5 m and drop mass used
was 2.669 kg. The depth of STF was varied from 10 mm to 20 mm with concentration
of 58.82wt%, 55.55wt% and 52.63wt%. It was found that for concentrations greater
than 58.82wt%, the STF solution became too stiff to form a uniform suspension.
When the concentration is less than 52.63wt%, the STF suspension behaved like
water showing no appreciable shear thickening. For the second set of experiments, the
depth of STF was fixed at 20 mm, and the drop mass was maintained at 2.669 kg. The
concentration of STF used was 58.82 wt%. The drop height was varied as 0.5 m, 1 m
and 1.4 m.
3.3 Results and discussion
It was found that the concentration and depth of the STF controlled the shear
thickening phenomenon. The first set of experiments showed that the depth of
penetration reduced with higher concentrations of 10 mm and 20 mm deep STF
(Figure 3.6 & 3.7). The penetration depth of 10 mm of 52.63wt% STF was similar to
16

the indentation depth obtained for 10 mm water. For 20 mm of STF, the penetration
depth is significantly reduced.
Based on the impact response of the STF, the study was extended to STF covered
with a Twaron fabric and STF cover with the fabric attached with aluminum legs. The
results demonstrated that the addition of Twaron fabric to STF slightly improves its
resistance to impact. Most energy was probably absorbed by the layer of Twaron
fabric, although the STF might have played a critical secondary role. The Twaron
fabric yarns that were directly impacted by the steel indenter pull out significantly
from the weave, producing the well-documented cross pattern in the fabric. Some
fiber stretching may have occurred near the impact point.
10 mm STF with Impact Energy of 13.091 J
Depth of Penetration(mm)
at clay witness
15.00
Water
10.00
5.00
0.00
STF only
STF with Twaron
STF with Twaron

and Alu Leg
58.82wt%
9.52
9.31
8.54
55.55wt%
10.2
9.88
8.82
52.63wt%
12.03
11.85
9.08
Figure 3.6: Depth of penetration in clay backing for 0.5m drop tests onto 10 mm of
STF
Increasing the amount of STF may lead to an increase in energy absorption. At the
same impact energy, penetration depth for 20 mm of STF reduced by 11% and 13.5 %
17

for STF with Twaron respectively when compared with 10 mm STF. For 20 mm STF
with Twaron and aluminum legs, the penetration depth reduced by 25.5% due to the
increase in thickness and the addition of the aluminum legs (Figure 3.6 & 3.7).
Comparing all the test results in Figure 3.6 and Figure 3.7, it can be seen that
increasing the amount of STF reduces the penetration depth.
20 mm STF with Impact Energy of 13.091 J
Depth of Penetration(mm)
at clay witness
15.00
Water
10.00
5.00
0.00
STF only
STF with Twaron
STF with Twaron

and Alu Leg
58.82wt%
8.45
8.05
6.36
55.55wt%
9.16
8.18
6.76
52.63wt%
9.58
8.98
7.65
Figure 3.7: Depth of penetration in clay backing for 0.5m drop tests onto 20 mm of
STF
Based on the results from the first set of experiments, the STF concentration was
chosen to be 58.82wt% and the depth of the STF was fixed at 20 mm for higher
impact energy tests. Figure 3.8 shows the impact performance of the STF without
fabric, STF covered with Twaron and STF covered by Twaron with aluminum legs
attached for the steel indenter at different drop heights. As impact energy increases,
the depth of penetration into the clay backing increases. The STF covered with
18

Twaron fabric exhibited slightly less penetration as compared to the STF without
fabric.
20 mm STF with concentration of 58.82wt%
11.00
Depth of Penetration (mm)

at clay backing
10.00
9.00
8.00
7.00
STF only
6.00
STF with Twaron
STF with Twaron & Alu Legs

5.00
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
Impact Energy (J)
Figure 3.8: Penetration depth versus drop impact energy from drop tests onto 20mm
STF at 58.82wt% concentration
The STF covered by Twaron fabric with aluminum legs attached performed
significantly better than the other two systems. This is due to the increased shear
thickening effect between the STF and aluminum legs. The increase in energy
dissipation in the target is due to the increased pullout resistance on the yarns during
impact, which then absorbs additional energy through the fiber (Figure 3.9). As
compared to a purely STF system and one covered by Twaron without the legs, the
STF-fabric system with the addition of aluminum legs had a penetration depth that
was 15% and 20% lower respectively.
19
Impact Force
Fabric
Aluminum
Legs
Shear Thickening Zone
Figure 3.9: Shear thickening zones developed upon impact onto STF covered by
Twaron fabric with aluminum legs
3.4 Conclusion
This study demonstrates the low velocity impact resistance of STF of different
amounts and concentrations. The energy absorption of the STF was investigated in
terms of penetration depths in the clay backing. It can be concluded that the
concentration (water to corn starch ratio) is most critical to the performance of the
STF. In this experiment, the concentration of 58.82wt% showed the best performance
in resisting impact forces. Results also showed that increasing the amount of the STF
leads to better impact energy dissipation. Furthermore, the addition of Twaron fabric
improved the performance of the STF system only slightly. However, the addition of
aluminum legs to the Twaron fabric significantly reduced the penetration depth and
increased energy absorption. As such, with a better understanding of its shear
thickening characteristics, shear thickening fluids could be used to fabricate liquid
body armor to provide improved protection against low velocity ballistic threats and
minimize blunt trauma.
20
Chapter 4 Reducing Blunt Trauma with Shear Thickening Fluids

4 Reducing Blunt Trauma with Shear Thickening Fluids
4.1 Introduction
Most ballistic body amours are designed to prevent projectiles from penetration.
However, even if the projectile does not perforate armor, the armor may deform
significantly when the projectile is stopped causing injury to wearer. Injuries can
range from mere bruising to lung contusions and in more serious cases, can be fatal.
Such problems are expected to become more prevalent and serious as current trend
towards thinner armor and higher energy threats continue.
Recent studies have shown that good improvement in the ballistic resistance of fabric
armor materials can be achieved when they were impregnated with a shear thickening
fluids. Various commercial products have also utilized polymeric materials with shear
thickening properties for low velocity impact shock absorption in sports and industrial
applications. This suggests that it may be also possible to utilize shear thickening
fluids for reducing high velocity ballistic impacts.
The previous chapter presented results of the investigation done on the impact energy
dissipation properties of cornstarch-water suspension (STF) at low velocities. Drop
testing was employed to examine the impact response of different amount of STF
comprising various concentrations of cornstarch in water. A study on the impact
absorption performance of systems utilizing STF and fabric was also involved.
21

In this chapter, the tests were repeated again to investigate the high velocity impact
response of the STF with different concentration. The shear thickening properties of
STF are exploited for use in high velocity impact absorption, particularly to reduce
behind amour injuries. To achieve this, a series of ballistic tests designed to replicate
impact conditions generating behind amour injuries are performed. Twaron fabric,
commonly used in soft body armor, is packaged with the cornstarch suspension in
different configurations and performance indicators are measured and analyzed.
4.2 Experimental set-up
The experimental set-up is based on the widely adopted National Institute of Justice
Standard-0101.06 for ballistic armor [36]. This standard measures the ability of a
ballistic armor to reduce blunt trauma on the human body by the depth of indentation
made by the armor on a block of clay material witness when the armor defeats a
projectile. The standard is modified according to the constraints of laboratory using a
plain ballistic fabric backed with a package of STF to simulate ballistic armor fitted
with a conventional blunt trauma pad. Consistent with the standard, a block of clay
material is placed behind for the ballistic fabric to deform into and the depth of
indentation was recorded.
22

4.2.1 Test Materials
4.2.1.1 Shear thickening fluids
Cornstarch-water suspension is used as the shear thickening fluid in the experiment.

The cornstarch is sealed inside a thin latex bag stretched over a Perspex ring to form a
disc of STF. The Perspex ring has an internal diameter of 140mm and external
diameter of 150mm Figure 4.1 shows the Perspex ring with the cornstarch suspension.
Figure 4.1: Thin rubber encapsulated cornstarch suspension for impact absorption
Twaron CT 717 was used as the ballistic resistant material throughout the whole
experiment. The specifications of Twaron CT717 fabric provided by the manufacturer
are shown in Table 4.1.
23

Table 4.1: Twaron CT717 fabric specifications
Yarn
1680dtexf1000
Type Warp
1000
Type Weft
1000
Weave
Plain
Mass per Unit Area(g/m2)
280
Fabric-Thickness(mm)
0.43
Strength at break Warp(N/5cm)
10.500
Strength at break Weft(N/5cm)
11.000
The general properties for Twaron fibres are as shown in Table 4.2.
Table 4.2: Properties of Twaron fibres

3
Density
Tensile modulus of elasticity
Tensile strength
Elongation at break
Flammability
[g/cm ]
[GPa]
[MPa]
[%]
[LOI-Index]
1.44
67
3000
3.3
0.29
Melting Point
[o C]
480
Heat resistance (48 hr at 200 C)

Moisture absorption(20 oC/65% RH)
[%]
[%]
90
5
Thermal expansion coefficient

Thermal conduction coefficient
Specific heat
[10 /K]
[W/m K]
[J/kg K]
-6
-2
0.05
1420
The Twaron was cut to a circular shape of diameter 150mm and placed over the
Perspex ring in the CF package (Figure 4.1).
24

4.2.1.3 Clay backing
An oil based modeling clay (Orchid Super-clay) is used as the clay backing material.
As per standard, its indentation after impact is used as an indication of the severity of
blunt trauma. in the clay completely filled a box with internal dimensions 235 x 265 x
70mm made from 12mm thick plywood (Figure 4.2). The whole box of clay is fixed
rigidly onto a steel jig.
Figure 4.2: Clay witness
4.2.2 Experimental method
A smooth bore gas gun is used to fire spherical steel projectiles of diameter 14.4mm
and weight 12g. A pair of lasers and photo-diodes connected to an oscilloscope
records the projectile velocity as it leaves the gun barrel.
LASER SENSOR
6M
COMPRESSED
GAS CHAMBER
BARREL
TARGET
CLAY
WITNESS
IMPACT CHAMBER
Figure 4.3: Schematic diagram of high pressure gas gun set-up for ballistic tests
25

The target consists of three parts: a) the front layer of Twaron fabric, b) the STF
package and c) the clay backing fixed onto a metal jig. The front layer of Twaron
fabric and the STF package are strapped onto the clay backing box by means of two
elastic straps.
The depth of penetration (DOP) is defined as the depth of indentation mark left by the
impact on the clay witness as measured from the initial flat surface. The DOP is
measured using digital vernier calipers. This is consistent with the NIJ standard,
which requires the indentation depth on the standard clay to be less than 44mm as an
assessment of the body armors capability to resist blunt trauma.
4.3 Ballistic limit for the Twaron CT717 fabric
The ballistic limit is the impact velocity of a particular projectile to just penetrate a
particular piece of armor. Since the fabric should not be perforated during the blunt
trauma tests, the ballistic limit for the Twaron fabric and 14.4mm steel projectile
needs to be determined prior to the blunt trauma tests. To obtain the ballistic limit,
Twaron fabrics with dimensions 120mm x 280mm are clamped tightly onto a metal
jig and fired upon. The same smooth bore gas gun is then used to fire a 12g, 14.4mm
diameter spherical projectiles onto the clamped fabric. The tests are repeated at
increasing projectiles velocities until the velocity at which the fabric is perforated and
the velocity when the fabric is not perforated differs by less than 5 m/s. The ballistic
limit is then taken to be the average of the two values. Results (Table 4.3, 4.4) showed
that 1 ply of Twaron has a ballistic limit of 78.38 m/s while the ballistic limit for 2
plies of Twaron is 150.15 m/s.
26

Table 4.3: Results of ballistic tests on 1 ply of Twaron CT717 fabric
Test
Velocity (m/s)
Result
75.75
Not Perforated
78.64
Perforated
84.12
Perforated
75.70
Not Perforated
75.75
Not Perforated
78.12
Not Perforated
79.61
Not Perforated
Ballistic Limit = 78.38 m/s
Table 4.4: Results of ballistic tests on 2 plies of Twaron CT717 fabric

Test
Velocity (m/s)
Result
130.80
Not Perforated
147.00
Not Perforated
168.90
Not Perforated
168.90
Perforated
157.20
Perforated
153.30
Perforated
Ballistic Limit = 150.15 m/s
4.4 Blunt trauma tests on STF packages with different concentration
Ballistic tests were conducted on STF packages filled with plain cornstarch
suspensions of different concentrations to test for their effectiveness in reducing blunt
trauma. They were tested at an impact velocity of 80 m/s. A volume of 300ml of STF
was used in all tests. In all the tests, a single ply of Twaron fabric was placed in front
27

of the STF package. A higher weight percent of cornstarch in suspension will make
the suspension thicker and shear thicken more easily. It was observed that for
concentration above 58.8wt%, the resulting suspension would be too stiff for use and
for concentrations below 52wt%, the shear thickening observed was minimal.
Figure 4.4 shows that when compared to the package filled with just water for
experiment, the packages containing the STF performed better. It can thus be
concluded that the shear thickening fluid does provides additional protection at the
velocity range of 70-80m/s. in additional, compared to an empty package, adding 300
ml of 58.8wt% STF into the package resulted in the DOP reducing by 40%. The
addition of a similar volume of water into the package reduces DOP by only 25%.
This serves as further proof that the STF can increase energy dissipation during the
impact process.
16.0
14.0
12.7
10.6
9.5
12.0
10.1
10.0
8.0
8.0
6.0
4.0
2.0
0.0
58.8wt%
55 wt%
52.6 wt%
Water(300ml)
Empty
package
Figure 4.4: Depth of penetration in clay witness for systems of different concentration
of STF covered with 1 ply of Twaron for ballistic tests at 75 m/s
28

Although the tests do show that the use of a STF can reduce the DOP somewhat, they
are not conclusive on the optimum concentration that should be used in such a system
and more rigorous tests are needed. Nevertheless, as the 58.8wt% cornstarch
suspension showed the best performance in low velocity testing i.e. drop testing, the
concentration of 58.8wt% will be used in all subsequent tests. The STF pad with 1 ply
of Twaron gave the best ballistic performance in terms of lowest DOP.
4.5 Development of STF-fabric composite pad
4.5.1 Effectiveness of different combination of composite systems for blunt

trauma reduction
Based on the results obtained thus far, different combinations of composite systems
were tested for their effectiveness in reducing DOP at an impact velocity of 75 m/s.
The ballistic performance of the STF package was examined by adding 2 plies of
Twaron inside. In addition, a layer of non-woven polyester was attached to the
Twaron ply and tested as system 4 in Figure 4.5.
The idea for system 4 was obtained from the low velocity impact response of the STF
covered with Twaron fabric and aluminum legs (Figure 3.6, 3.7). To increase the
bonding between the Twaron fabric and STF, the non-woven polyester fiber was used
instead of the aluminum legs. The non-woven polyester fiber was bonded to the
Twaron fabric with the help of double sided adhesive tape.
29
SYSTEM
Depth of penetration (mm)
9.00
8.00
7.00
6.00
5.00
4.00
3.00
2.00
1.00
0.00
1
Target System
Legend:
1 Ply Twaron Fabric
Fiber (non-woven polyester)
Water
STF Fluid
Figure 4.5: Depth of penetration in clay witness for different STF composite systems
for ballistic tests at 75 m/s
Comparing system 1 (20 mm thick STF packages covered with 1 ply of Twaron
fabric) with system 3 showed that adding 2 plies of Twaron fabric in the STF
packages reduces DOP by 25%. Comparing system 2 (20 mm thick water packages
containing 2 plies of Twaron fabric covered with 1 frontal ply of Twaron fabric) with
system 3, shows that system 3 gave a 25% lower DOP. These results show that
effectiveness of the STF and the interaction between the fabric and STF in reducing
DOP.
System 4, which contains 2 x 1 ply of Twaron fabric bonded to a layer of non-woven

polyester fibers in a STF filled package gave a DOP that was 80% lower than system
1 and 60% lower than system 3. Comparing system 5 which contains 2 x 1 ply of
30

Twaron fabric bonded to a layer of non-woven polyester in a water filled packages
with system 4, system 4 gave a 70% lower DOP. The above series of tests suggest that
the interaction between the STF and developed composite pad consisting of 1 ply of
Twaron bounded to a layer of non-woven polyester is crucial to increasing energy
dissipation.
4.5.2 The effectiveness of STF at impact velocity of 145 m/s
Figure 4.6 shows the effectiveness of the STF against high velocity impacts. Packages
containing only water and STF were placed behind 2 plies of Twaron fabric and
subjected to ballistic testing at 145 m/s. Results showed that the STF package gave a
DOP that was 13% lower than the DOP obtained for the water package of similar
weight. Therefore, it can be concluded once again that the STF provides significant
reduction in DOP and absorbs more impact energy.
SYSTEM
35.00
30.00
25.00
20.00
15.00
10.00
5.00
0.00
A
Target System
Legend:
1 Ply Twaron Fabric
Water
STF Fluid
Figure 4.6: Depth of penetration in clay witness for STF and water systems of same
thickness of 20 mm for ballistic tests at 145 m/s
31

4.5.3 The effectiveness of epoxy treated Twaron fabric in STF packages
Ballistic tests were conducted on STF packages filled with cornstarch-water

suspensions of concentration 58.8wt% (weight % of cornstarch to water) to
investigate the effectiveness of epoxy treated Twaron fabric in STF packages. All the
systems were maintained at the same weight of 255g for fair comparison.
The ballistic tests were carried out with all the systems covered with 2 plies of
Twaron fabric at an impact velocity of 145 m/s. The thickness of all the systems is
about 15 mm. Three tests were done for each system and the average depth of
penetration (DOP) was obtained. The error bars show the maximum and minimum
values obtained.
Figure 4.7 compares the effectiveness of the neat Twaron fabric, epoxy treated
Twaron fabric and non-woven polyester. Each type of fabric was placed in the STF
package and subjected to ballistic tests. Among the tested systems (Figure 4.7),
system 4 gave the best performance. The test results indicate that the interaction
between cornstarch-water suspension and the epoxy treated Twaron fabric plays an
important role in the reduction of DOP.
32
SYSTEM
35.00
30.00
25.00
20.00
15.00
10.00
5.00
0.00
1
Target System
Legend:
1 Ply Twaron Fabric
STF Fluid
Treated 1 Ply Twaron Fabric

Fiber (non-woven Polyester)
Figure 4.7: Depth of penetration in clay witness for STF systems of same weight of
255g for ballistic tests at 145 m/s
It can be argued that the improvement in the DOP was not due to the STF but rather
due to the addition of tough materials like Twaron in the system. Therefore, ballistic
test on 4 plies of Twaron at the same velocity was conducted (Figure 4.8). Similar
tests on systems 1 and 2 were done as some researchers have reported that having
gaps in between layers of ballistic fabric can affect its performance. Both systems had
higher DOP than system 3 which replaced 2 plies of neat Twaron with 2 plies of
epoxy treated Twaron. These results show that the epoxy treatment of Twaron fabric
contributes to the reduction in DOP. This is in addition to the reduction caused by the
fabric-STF interaction
33
30.00
SYSTEM
25.00
20.00
15.00
10.00
5.00
0.00
1
Target System
Legend:
1 Ply Twaron Fabric
Figure 4.8: Depth of penetration in clay witness for systems without STF for ballistic
tests at 145 m/s
4.5.4 The effectiveness of STF-fabric composite system
Tests were conducted to develop and improve the new impact resistant composite
systems for high velocity impact. The ballistic tests were carried out on systems
covered with 2 plies of Twaron and the impact velocity used was 145 m/s. The tests
were conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of each component of the composite
system. The average system thickness was 10 mm and the average mass for the
systems was 255g. Ballistic testing was carried out by changing some of the
parameters in the systems and the test results are shown in Figure 4.10. Based on
previous tests, the epoxy treated plies of Twaron fabric help to reduce DOP.
34
SYSTEM
35.00
30.00
25.00
20.00
15.00
10.00
5.00
0.00
1
Target System
Legend:
1 Ply Twaron Fabric
Water
STF Fluid
Fiber (non-woven Polyester)
Figure 4.9: Depth of penetration in clay witness for systems of same weight of 255g
for ballistic tests at 145 m/s
One layer of non-woven polyester fiber was attached to the 1 ply of Twaron fabric
with the help of double sided adhesive tape to form a composite layer. Two of such
composite layers were placed in the STF (System 4) and the DOP was compared to
the plain STF (System 1). The result showed that the addition of the composite layers
reduced DOP by 13%.
Next, 2 sets of epoxy treated Twaron fabric plies attached with non-woven polyester
fiber was placed into the STF (System 2) and compared to system 1. The DOP was
reduced by 88%.Comparing system 3 which consists of epoxy treated Twaron fabric
composite in water, and system 2, the results showed that the DOP for the system 3
was about 46% higher. As such, it can be concluded that system 2 is very effective in
35

reducing the DOP, indicating the usefulness of using the treated fabric composite and
STF as a system.
4.6 Development of STF-fabric blunt trauma pad
By understanding of the shear thickening characteristic of STF and strength of

composite pads, penetration tests will be carried out at high velocity impact to
investigate the efficiency of the selected composite system. This novel composite
system could be used to fabricate liquid body armor to provide improved protection
against ballistic threats and minimize blunt trauma.
In this series of tests, the number of frontal plies of Twaron was increased to 20 to
withstand high energy impact. The thickness of STF-fabric composite pad and waterfabric pad was fixed at 20 mm. Each composite pad consisted of 3 layers of epoxy
treated fabric with non-woven polyester fiber (referred to as integrated ply).
Tests were carried out at a velocity of 350 ms-1, using the same 12g steel ball. This
gives an impact energy of 735J which is equivalent to the impact energy of Level IIIA
of the NIJ ballistic standard. Targets used were arranged as 40 plies Twaron, 20 plies
Twaron with 20 mm thick rubber sheet, 20 plies Twaron with water-fabric composite
pad and 20 plies Twaron with STF-fabric composite pad (Figure 4.10).
36
TARGET
25
21.56
20
14.35
15
10
8.4
5
0
0
A
Target
Legend:
20 Plies Twaron Fabric
Integrated ply
D
20 mm thick STF Fluid
20 mm thick Water
20 mm thick rubber
Figure 4.10: Depth of penetration in clay witness for systems of same thickness of
20mm for ballistic tests at 350 m/s
The test results showed the energy absorption performance for the blunt trauma
systems. Comparing target A and B, it was shown that placing a 20 mm thick rubber
sheet behind 20 frontal plies of Twaron can reduce DOP by 36%. However, the waterfabric composite pad gave a DOP that was 43% lower than 20 mm thick rubber sheet.
Target D with 20 frontal plies of Twaron and STF-fabric composite pad gave zero
indentation (Figure 4.11). The projectile perforated 10 plies of Twaron before coming
to a stop.
37
Figure 4.11: Front (Left) and back face (Right) of STF-fabric composite pad after
350m/s impact
Figure 4.12: Clay witness after projectile impact at 350m/s for STF-fabric composite
pad (Target D).
4.7 Energy dissipation mechanism of STF-fabric composite pad
Most of the impact energy was absorbed by the frontal plies of fabric during impact.
Although the frontal plies of fabric can stop the projectile, the fabric system produces
a big deformation which can cause injury to the wearer after impact. This deformation
can be reduced by placing a blunt trauma pad behind the fabric system. The basic idea
of reducing blunt trauma is to decrease the traverse deflection of the front layer
Twaron fabrics. This is accomplished in the composite pad by its resistance to
bending under impact load. The previous test showed that the target D with 20 frontal
plies of Twaron and STF-fabric composite pad gave zero indentation.
38

The possible energy dissipation mechanism of STF-fabric composite pad is illustrated
stage by stage in Figure 4.14. When the projectile hits the STF-fabric pad, the shear
thickening zone appears under the impact point as shown in stage 1. Due to the
increase in stiffness caused by shear thickening, it resists the transverse deflection of
the fabric. At the same time the shear force between the integrated ply and STF
caused by shear thickening zone between the integrated ply and STF makes it difficult
for the fabric to be pulled inwards towards the point of impact.
Some of the kinetic energy of the projectile is absorbed by the first integrated ply by
means of friction between the projectile and integrated ply. Due to this mode of
energy dissipation, the kinetic energy of the projectile hitting the second integrated
ply is reduced. It can be concluded that most of the energy dissipation in the pad was
provided by the first layer of integrated ply. The subsequent integrated plies play a
critical secondary role during the impact event.
39
BEFORE IMPACT
STAGE 1
STAGE 2
STAGE 3
Legend:
1 Ply Treated Twaron Fabric
STF Fluid
Non-woven Polyester fiber

Shear thickening zone
Figure 4.13: Impact sequence of STF-fabric composite pad.
40
Second Ply
A: First integrated ply at striking face
B: Second integrated ply
Third Ply
C: Third integrated ply
D: Back face of third integrated ply
Figure 4.14: Damage in integrated plies after impact
4.8 Conclusion
A study on the impact absorption performance of systems utilizing shear-thickening

fluid was done. With the aim of reducing non-perforating behind amour injuries, fluid
impact absorption systems using cornstarch-water suspension as shear thickening
fluid were fabricated and experimented with. Through the study, a new impact
resistant composite system for the high velocity impact was developed.
41

The composite system was evaluated by subjecting different systems containing the
STF
and
various
composite
layers
to
ballistic
impact.
The
energy
absorption/dissipation of the system was investigated in terms of penetration depth of

clay witness blocks. The tests suggested that a combination of the composite layers
and STF resulted in greater impact energy dissipation. It was also shown that
developed STF-fabric composite pad is effective in reducing blunt trauma.
Particularly, a test done at the impact energy of level IIIA ballistic amours showed
that the developed system was able to reduce the depth of penetration of deforming
frontal fabrics into the clay backing to zero. However, it should be noted that the
weight of the developed composite pad remains high as compared with plain Twaron,
although the flexibility may be higher. Since this is still a new idea, many aspects can
be improved upon.
42
Chapter 5 Reducing Blunt Trauma with Shear Thickening Polymers

5 Reducing Blunt Trauma with Shear Thickening Polymers
5.1 Introduction
Following the development of the STF-fabric composite pad for high impact energy
dissipation applications such as blunt trauma pads, a new shear thickening material is
introduced in this chapter. The cornstarch-water suspension (STF) is difficult to use
for practical applications because it cannot maintain its shape due to its liquid-gel like
properties. The new material is a polymer which also exhibits shear thickening
properties upon impact. The use of shear thickening polymers (STP) to make flexible
blunt trauma pads that will improve the ballistic properties of fabric amour systems is
investigated in this chapter.
The previous chapter showed that the incorporation of cornstarch-water suspension

(STF) into anti-ballistic body armour systems was effective in reducing impact energy
from high velocity projectiles. Following the work done on cornstarch-water
suspension (STF), a shear thickening polymer (STP) is incorporated with Twaron in
different configurations and subjected to ballistic testing to study the systems
effectiveness in reducing blunt trauma.
Ultimately, this chapter aims to investigate the effectiveness of the shear thickening
polymer (STP) and propose alternative systems to improve ballistic properties of
existing soft body amour. Tests on STF systems will also be done to compare the
performance of both materials.
43

5.2 Experimental set-up and method of testing
The gas gun was used for testing and the test set up details can be found in Section
4.2.2. The target is impacted upon by spherical projectiles with a mass of 12g at a
velocity of 150m/s. The target includes 2 frontal plies of Twaron and STF/STP pad. In
this study, the size of the target was chosen to be 100 mm x 100 mm to allow for
better control of the thickness of the STF pad. STF/STP packages are 15mm thick and
the clay is placed inside a metal box with a square base of width 98mm and height
50mm (Refer to Appendix D). The target is attached to a metal box containing clay
backing using latex bands (Figure 5.1).
The clay backing used for the project is Nikki Modeling Clay. As specified in NIJ
standard, the clay backing has to be free of voids with a smooth, flat front surface for
the accurate measurement of depression depths. This is done by compressing the clay
using the Shimadzu AG-25TB Universal Testing Machine (Refer to Appendix A).
Figure 5.1: Target set-up for assessing blunt trauma in ballistic testing
44

Two types of shear thickening materials are used in this study. A cornstarch-water
suspension (STF) made from Pagoda Brand cornstarch with a concentration of 58.8
wt% cornstarch is used. This concentration was determined to be most effective for
high velocity impact absorption in Section 4.4.The second material is a shear
thickening polymer (STP) which is made by cross linking polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)
with borax and microsphere particles.
To simulate blunt trauma pads, test packages were made using polyethylene bags. In
addition to the two types of shear thickening materials, different materials and
systems were inserted in the packages to improve its performance (Figure 5.2). The
details and effects of doing this will be discussed in the results section. As the
cornstarch-water suspension is unable to maintain its shape, an aluminum metal frame
was used to encapsulate the STF packages made from Cornstarch-water suspension
during testing.
Figure 5.2: Shear thickening polymer (STP) pad (Left) and shear thickening fluid
(STF) pad (Right)
The epoxy used for the project is Araldite Rapid High Performance two-part epoxy
adhesive with a stated curing time of 5 minutes. To ensure consistency, all epoxy
treated fabrics were allowed to cure for at least 24 hours before testing.
45

5.3 Effectiveness of shear thickening polymer (STP)-fabric composite pad
The results shown in Figure 5.3 indicate that the STP is capable of reducing DOP
when used alone (comparing system A and 1). It resulted in a 6% reduction in DOP.
However, this reduction is considerably lower as compared to the case when the STP
is used in conjunction with Twaron fabric.
When comparing systems B and 4, both of which contain 4 plies of epoxy treated
Twaron and the only difference is that system 4 contains the STP, system 4 had a
DOP that is 60% less than B. Comparing system 1 (no fabric) to systems 2, 3 and 4
(all with fabric) shows that the presence of the fabric contributes significantly to DOP
reduction. This agrees with the test result from chapter 2 and shows that interaction
between the fabric and the STP plays a key role in DOP reduction.
SYSTEM
70.00
SYSTEM
60.00
50.00
40.00
30.00
20.00
11
10.00
0.00
A
Target System
Legend:
1 Ply Neat Twaron Fabric
1 Ply Epoxy Treated Twaron
Polyethylene Bag
15 mm Thick STP
22
33
4
Figure 5.3: Depth of penetration in clay witness for STP systems of same thickness of
15mm for ballistic tests at 150 m/s
46

It was suggested in Section 4.5.2 that a fibrous surface on the fabric layer would
increase the bonding between the STF and fabric, such that the impact of projectile on
the fabric will result in a larger volume of STF shear thickening. This would
effectively reduce DOP. Two systems with fibrous layers were introduced and tested.
The systems were system 5 (2 X 2 ply epoxy treated Twaron with second layer
roughened) and system 6 (2 X 1 ply epoxy treated Twaron bonded with non-woven
polyester fiber pad). System 6 was introduced in chapter 2 and it was the most
effective system for STF.
Figure 5.4 shows that system 6 was found to be less effective than system 3 in
reducing DOP with the only difference between them being the addition of the nonwoven polyester fiber layer in system 6. It should be noted that with both systems
being of similar thickness, the addition of the polyester fiber which is of considerable
thickness (Refer to Appendix C), resulted in less STP being was used for system 6.
This shows that extra amount of STP in system 3 contributes to decrease in DOP.
These results also serve as an indication that the addition of a fibrous layer is not as
crucial in the case of the STP unlike cornstarch-water suspension (STF). This will be
confirmed in later tests. This hypothesis is supported by the fact that the STP which is
sticky by nature, bonds well with plain Twaron fabric. As compared to the STF,
which flows rather easily off the smooth Twaron fabric layer due to its high water
content, a considerable amount of shear force is required to remove the STP from the
Twaron fabric.
47

For the STP, System 4 (containing 2 X 2 ply epoxy treated Twaron) was found to be
most effective in reducing DOP. However, this is better than system 5 (containing 2 X
2 ply epoxy treated Twaron with second layer roughened) by a marginal amount of
2%. With the amount of STP in both systems being the same, the marginal difference
can be attributed to the following two effects caused by roughening of the second
layer. Firstly, roughening of the second layer increases the bonding between the STP
and fabric which leads to more STP shear thickening and hence lowering DOP.
However, it also reduces the ballistic properties of roughened layer due to yarn
damage, which increases DOP. Therefore, in the case of the STP which is sticky by
nature and bonds rather well with the unroughened Twaron, the increase in bonding
due to roughening is not as significant as compared to the reduction in ballistic
properties of the roughened layer. The effect of the roughened surface on STF is
studied in the next section.
SYSTEM
16.00
14.00
12.00
10.00
8.00
6.00
4.00
2.00
0.00
3
Target System
Legend:
(one side roughened)
Non-woven Polyester Fiber
15 mm Thick STP
Figure 5.4: Depth of penetration in clay witness for STP-epoxy systems of same
thickness of 15mm for ballistic tests at 150 m/s
48

5.4 Performance comparison of STP and STF composite pad
Figure 5.5 shows that the STF is more effective than the STP in reducing DOP when
there are no fabric layers in the pad. However, when used with neat Twaron fabric in
system 2, the STP preformed better. This is another indication of the relatively
stronger bonding between the STP and Twaron fabric. Furthermore, the high water
content in STF lubricated the yarns in the fabric, reducing inter-yarn friction and
hence rendering the Twaron layer less effective.
A layer of epoxy was applied to the Twaron in system 3 to increase inter-yarn friction
and this resulted in a decrease of DOP for both STF and STP (compared to system 2).
This agrees with previous studies which suggest that higher friction is needed among
the yarns to improve energy absorption characteristics [2, 3].
In addition, the application of epoxy resulted in a higher reduction of DOP for STF
(70% decrease from system 2) as compared to the STP (30% decrease). This was due
to the abovementioned point on the water lubrication for cornstarch. With the epoxy
treatment, the lubrication effect of the water was greatly reduced and interaction
between the cornstarch and epoxy treated Twaron fabric was far more effective in
reducing DOP.
49
70.00
STP
SYSTEM
60.00
STF
50.00
40.00
30.00
20.00
10.00
0.00
1
2
Target System
Legend:
15 mm Thick Shear
Thickening Material
Figure 5.5: Comparison of depths of penetration in clay witness for STP and STF
systems of same thickness of 15mm for ballistic tests at 150 m/s (without
fibrous interlayer)
Figure 5.6 highlights the importance of a fibrous layer for the STF. Although system 4
contained 2 extra layers of epoxy treated Twaron fabric and more cornstarch as
compared to system 6 which had a fibrous polyester pad, the DOP was only 10%
lower. Two extra layers of epoxy treated Twaron fabric in a STF package are able to
reduce DOP by 25% (comparing system 3 and 4). As such, these results indicate that
the interaction between the STF and fibrous pad contribute significantly to DOP
reduction.
More conclusively, for the STF, system 5 (2 X 2 ply epoxy treated Twaron with
second layer roughened) is more effective than system 4 (2 X 2 ply epoxy treated
Twaron) in reducing DOP. This shows that for the STF, the effect of DOP reduction
due to the fibrous roughened layer increasing the bonding between the STF and fabric
was more significant than the effect of DOP increment due to damaged yarns. It can
50

be concluded that the fibrous layer is more crucial for DOP reduction for STF than
STP.
System 4 and system 5 were found to be most effective in reducing DOP for STP and
STF respectively. For similar thickness of 15mm, the DOP for STF system 5 was
18% lower than STP system 4. However, the STF system was more than 3 times
heavier (190g vs. 57g). As such, for the next test (Figure 5.7), the thickness of STP
system 4 was gradually increased to investigate how the two STP and STF systems
compared in terms of weight.
16.00
14.00
12.00
10.00
8.00
6.00
4.00
2.00
0.00
STP
SYSTEM
STF
5
4
5
Target System
Legend:
15 mm Thick Shear
Thickening Material
systems of same thickness of 15mm for ballistic tests at 150 m/s (with
fibrous interlayer)
51

Figure 5.7 shows that increasing the thickness of STP system 1 to 34mm (system 2)
results in it performing better than STF system 3 of 15mm thickness. This STP system
weighs 40% less than STF system 3. Hence, in terms of similar weight, the STP
system 2 is more effective than STF system 3 in reducing DOP.
Additionally, the physical properties of the STP make it more suitable than STF for
use in a blunt trauma pad. Unlike the STP, the STF is unable to maintain its shape,
requires encapsulation and is susceptible to bacterial growth. Also, when left
undisturbed, the cornstarch in the suspension will settle due to gravity, and form a top
layer of water. All these properties make STF unsuitable for use in a blunt trauma
pad.
SYSTEM
8.00
7.00
6.00
5.00
4.00
3.00
2.00
1.00
0.00
2
1. STP (90g,
25mm)
2. STP (120g,
34mm)
3. STF (190g,
15mm)
Target System
Legend:
STP
STF
systems of different weight and thickness for ballistic tests at 150 m/s
52

5.5 Ballistic impact tests with varying thickness of STP composite pad
Table 5.1: Depth of penetration in clay witness for different thickness of STP pad
with frontal fabric layers
Test system
Impact
DOP
Configuration
Description
Mass (g) Velocity (m/s)
(mm)
1
30N+ 10 mm Pad
320
357.0
18.21
2
30N + 6 mm Pad
277
332.2
24.10
3
20N + 10 mm Pad
255
335.5
24.16
Ballistic impact tests were also done to investigate the effects of the pad when its
thickness was varied. Comparing the results for the first 2 configurations in Table 7.2,
it can be seen that increasing the thickness of the pad by 4mm by adding more STP
reduces the DOP by 25%. This is achieved at the expense of 15% increase in weight.
Secondly, comparing configurations 2 and 3, the results show that by increasing the
thickness of the pad by 4mm and decreasing the number of front Twaron layers by 10
(equivalent thickness of 4mm), similar DOP could be achieved. Additionally,
configuration 3 is 8% lighter (density of Twaron fabric and STP are ~650kg/m3 and
450kg/m3 respectively) and more flexible than configuration 2. This shows that it is
possible to reduce the number of front fabric layers and attain similar ballistic
resistance at a lower weight and higher flexibility by increasing the thickness of pad.
53

5.6 Mechanism for DOP reduction due to interaction between STP and Twaron
fabric
Results from the ballistic impact tests showed that the interaction between the STP
and Twaron fabric was crucial in reducing DOP. A lower DOP, which indicates
reduced blunt trauma, occurs when the STP package is effective in absorbing the
impact energy of the projectile. As such, the mechanism suggested will look at
possible modes of energy absorption and dissipation due to the interaction between
the fabric and the STP.
During ballistic impact, when a projectile strikes the ballistic fabric, it is caught in a
web of yarns to which its kinetic energy is transferred [1]. This results in both a
transverse and in-plane displacement of the fabric (Figure 5.8) [4].
Transverse deflection of Fabric
Shear Thickening
Zone
In-plane deflection of Fabric
Shear Thickening Zone
Figure 5.8: Shear thickening in STP due to transverse deflection (Left) and in-plane
displacement (Right) of fabric
The transverse deflection, which occurs mainly at the point of impact, is significantly
larger than the in-plane deflection [4] and occurs in a direction that goes into the STP.
As such, this large deflection and the large amount of force applied on the fabric at
the point of impact cause a relatively large volume of STP directly under the point of
54

impact to shear thicken (Figure 5.8 (left)). This consequentially results in the
resistance to transverse deflection and viscous dissipation of energy in the shear
thickening zone.
The in-plane deflection (Figure 5.8 (right)) is significantly lower compared to the
transverse deflection. It also occurs in a direction that is parallel to the surface of the
STP. As such, the in-plane deflection and the resulting shear force results in the
region of the STP directly below the fabric to shear thicken. This shear thickening
zone is much thinner but more widespread as compared to the transverse case.
A previous study done by Lee et al. [39] showed that the ballistic properties of armour
fabric are enhanced by impregnating the fabric with a colloidal shear thickening fluid
due to increased inter-yarn friction arising from the addition of colloidal particles and
the formation of hydroclusters. As the results from the ballistic tests indicate that the
bonding between the STP and the Twaron fabric was good, it can be said that the
surface of the fabric in contact with STP is somewhat impregnated or coated with the
STP. As such, as in the case of the study by Lee et al. [39], the shear thickening of the
STP due to the longitudinal deflection resulted in an increase of inter-yarn friction in
the fabric. This results in higher energy dissipation in the fabric due to interfacial
frictional work.
55

5.7 Conclusion
In this chapter, a new shear thickening material was introduced and a shear thickening
polymer (STP)-fabric composite pad developed. The effectiveness of the STP with
different composite layers was studied. The results showed that the STP pad
containing 4 plies (2 x 2) of epoxy treated Twaron gives the lowest DOP. It can be
concluded from test results that the STP does not need an additional fibrous layer to
increase the bonding between the STP and fabric, unlike the STF. Comparing the STP
pad and STF pad, the STP pad performed better in terms of areal density and ballistic
performance. The STP pad containing 4 plies (2 x 2) of epoxy treated Twaron was
found to be most effective in reducing DOP amongst the STP packages tested. As
such, it will be used for all subsequent testing in this thesis and be referred to as STPfabric composite blunt trauma pad.
56
Chapter 6 Improving Ballistic Limit with Shear Thickening Polymers

6 Improving Ballistic Limit with Shear Thickening Polymers
6.1 Introduction
A ballistic vest is an item of personal armor that helps absorb the impact from fired
projectiles. Soft vests are made from many layers of woven or laminated fibers and
can be capable of protecting the wearer. When high-speed projectiles strike flexible
armor materials but do not penetrate, these materials deform quite readily and
transmit a large amount of energy to the tissues directly beneath the point of impact
causing injury also known as back face signature to the wearer.
Such problems are expected to become more prevalent and serious as the current
trend towards thinner armor and higher energy threats continue. With this in mind, a
new flexible impact energy absorption pad which utilizes shear thickening materials
was developed to reduce back face injury. A series of tests were done and it was
observed that the combination of composite pads and shear thickening fluid (STF)
results in effective energy dissipation.
The tests were repeated and results were confirmed by replacing the cornstarch-water
suspension (STF) in the developed pad with the shear thickening polymer (STP)
which has a lower density.
The flexible high energy absorption shear thickening polymer pad was developed for
high velocity impact absorption, particularly to reduce behind amour injuries. In this
57

chapter, the performance of the shear thickening polymer pad with regards to ballistic
limit and energy absorption is evaluated.
6.2 Experimental set-up and test materials
6.2.1 Experimental set-up
The experimental setup is based on the widely adopted National Institute of Justice
Standard-0101.06 for ballistic armor as refer to Section 4.2.2. A high speed camera is
used for the measurement of the residual velocity of the projectile.
Consistent with the standard, a block of clay material is placed behind the ballistic
fabric. Orchid Super-clay, an oil based modeling clay is used as the clay backing
material. It is contained in a box with internal dimensions 235 x 265 x 70mm made
from 12mm thick plywood.
Test specimens of size 150 mm x 150 mm are used. Frontal plies of Twaron fabric
are attached to the clay backing using rubber bands, to simulate the conditions
impacting a bullet proof vest when it is worn by soldiers. The clay backing box is
fastened to the steel jig and fired upon (Figure 6.1).
58
Figure 6.1: Target set-up for obtaining ballistic limit
6.2.2 Test materials
Twaron CT 717 was used as the ballistic resistant material throughout the whole
research. The specifications and general mechanical properties of Twaron CT717
provided by the manufacturer are shown in Section 4.2.1.2:
6.2.2.2 Shear thickening polymer (STP) pad
The size for the STP pad is 150 mm x 150 mm and 15 mm thick (Figure 5.2, Left). It
consists of 4 plies of epoxy treated Twaron fabric and the shear thickening polymer.
The STP pad was fabricated according to the layers sequence of 2 plies treated fabric,
STP, 2 plies treated fabric, STP. Thereafter, it was compressed to a thickness of 15
mm using a compression machine.
59

6.3.1 Ballistic limit (BL) for the STP composite pad
The effectiveness of the STP composite pad with regards to Ballistic limit is
investigated. The series of tests were conducted with 3 types of systems as shown in
Table 6.1. System A was used to identify the ballistic limit of the frontal ply fabric.
System C was used to investigate the ballistic limit effects of adding a 15 mm thick
STP pad to System A. System B was used to find out the contribution of 4 plies of
epoxy treated fabrics, which were used to fabricate the STP pad, towards the ballistic
limit. In the tests, all the systems were placed against the same clay witness block and
held in place by elastic straps as in previous sections (Figure 6.1).
Table 6.1: Description of systems tested for ballistic limit

Systems
A
B
C
Description
2 plies of Twaron
2 plies of Twaron + 4 plies of Epoxy treated Twaron
2 plies of Twaron + 15 mm thick STP Pad
The smooth bore gas gun was used for the ballistic limit tests and 12g, 14.4mm
diameter spherical projectiles were fired from it. The tests were repeated for
increasing velocities until the difference between the velocity where the fabric is
perforated and the velocity where the fabric is not perforated is less than 5 m/s. The
ballistic limit is then taken to be the average of the two values. Tests were repeated
for systems B and C, and test results are shown in Table 6.2, 6.3 and 6.4.
60

Table 6.2: Results of ballistic tests for 2 plies of Twaron fabric (System A)
Test
1
2
3
4
5
Velocity (m/s)
247.5
210.0
240.3
225.8
230.2
Results
Perforated
Not Perforated
Perforated
Not Perforated
Perforated
Ballistic Limit= (225.8+230.2)/2=228.0 m/s
Table 6.3: Results of ballistic tests for the 2 plies of Twaron fabric and 4 plies of
epoxy treated Twaron (System B)
Test
1
2
3
4
5
Velocity (m/s)
312.5
252.5
285.7
263.1
280.8
Results
Perforated
Not Perforated
Perforated
Not Perforated
Not Perforated
Table 6.4: Results of ballistic tests for the 2 plies of Twaron fabric and 15 mm thick
STP pad (System C)
Test
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Velocity (m/s)
247.5
350.2
435.3
387.6
406.5
400.0
391.8
Results
Not Perforated
Not Perforated
Perforated
Not Perforated
Perforated
Perforated
Perforated
61

The ballistic limit (BL) for 2 plies of Twaron fabric (system A) is 228 m/s and this is
52% higher than 150.15 m/s which is the BL for the 2 plies of Twaron fabrics
clamped tightly onto a metal jig and without clay backing.
The tests were conducted by adding a 15 mm thick STP pad to system A, to evaluate
the effectiveness of the STP pad. The ballistic limit for system C was found to be
389.7 m/s and this is 70% higher than the BL for system A, which has no padding. As
such, it can be concluded that by adding the newly developed STP pad to existing
bullet proof vest or flexible body armor, the ballistic limit of the whole system can be
effectively increased.
System B was tested to investigate the effects of materials used in the STP pad on BL.
The STP pad consists of 4 plies of epoxy treated Twaron and shear thickening
polymer. It can be assumed that the increase in BL is partly due to the 4 plies of
epoxy treated Twaron. Although the shear thickening polymer can harden upon
impact, it cannot resist the high energy localized impact.
By adding 4 plies of epoxy treated Twaron to system A (system B) the BL only

increased by 245 to 283.3 m/s. By comparing system C to system A and B , it can be
confirmed that the integration effect and energy absorption mechanism of 4 plies of
epoxy treated Twaron and shear thickening polymer in pad contributes to the increase
in ballistic limit significantly.
62

6.3.2 Energy absorption capacity of STP pad
Having determined the ballistic limit of different systems, the next step would be to
investigate the impact energy absorbed by the STP pad. The striking velocity was set
to 400 m/s. This velocity is slightly higher than the ballistic limit of 2 plies of Twaron
fabric and 15 mm thick STP pad with clay backing. By letting the projectile penetrate
through the whole system; the residual velocity of the projectile can be measured with
the help of a high speed camera.
The kinetic energy of a projectile of a mass, m moving with a velocity, V is given by
If the striking velocity of the projectile is VS and the residual velocity VR, the energy
absorbed by the system during impact, E is given by,
(2)
The residual velocity for each system is shown in Figure 6.3. Adding the STP pad to
system 2, reduced the residual velocity by 18%. Only a 7% reduction in residual
velocity was observed when 4 plies of epoxy treated Twaron was added to system 2.
63
SYSTEM
400
1
Residual Velocity
Velocity (m/s)
300
2
200
100
0
1
3
Test Systems
Legend:
15 mm STP
Clay Backing
Figure 6.2: Residual velocity for systems with and without STP at striking velocity of
400m/s
The energy absorbed by each system during impact was calculated and is shown in
Figure 6.4. The 70 mm thick clay backing (system 1) can absorb 432 J of impact
energy. Two plies of Twaron together with clay backing (system 2) can absorb impact
energy of 475 J and this is only an increase of 10% from system 1. Tests were
conducted by adding the STP pad to system 2 (system 4), and the results showed a
36% increase in energy absorption. A 11% increment in energy absorption was
observed when system 3 was compared to system 2.
The difference between system 3 and system 4 is the presence of the shear thickening
polymer. However the energy absorption capacity of system 4 is 22.6% higher than
system 3. Again, it can be concluded that the combined effect and energy absorption
64

mechanism of 4 plies epoxy treated Twaron and shear thickening polymer results in
greater energy absorption.
SYSTEM
700
Energy Absorbed (J)
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
1
3
Test Systems
Legend:
15 mm STP
Clay Backing
Figure 6.3: Energy absorbed for systems with and without STP at the impact energy
of 960 J
6.4 Conclusion
A new flexible impact energy absorption pad which utilizes shear thickening polymer
was developed to reduce back face injury. The above series of tests prove that the
newly developed shear thickening polymer pad can increase the ballistic limit of
Twaron fabric frontal plies. It can also increase the energy absorption capacity of the
system. Due to the combined effect and energy absorption mechanism of materials
used in the STP pad, the developed STP pad not only reduces blunt trauma, but also
increases the ballistic limit and energy absorption capacity of the armor systems.
65
Chapter 7 Incorporation of Epoxy Treated Twaron Fabric for Impact Protection

7 Incorporation of Epoxy Treated Twaron Fabric for Impact Protection
7.1 Introduction
The demand for substantial improvement in performance to weight ratio of body

armor is always ongoing. Although much progress has been made in improving the
functionalities of body armor, modern body armor still adversely affects the comfort
and mobility of the wearer. Many researchers have been studying the relationship
between material properties and protective properties of soft body armor to improve
its performance.
Basic factors that affect the protective performance of multi-layer fabric systems are
the properties of constituent fibers [40, 41], the types of weave fabric areal density,
number of fabric plies [42, 43] and their interconnection technique, fabric boundary
conditions [44, 45] as well as projectile material properties, projectile shape and mass
[46, 47, 48], impact velocity [49] and finally the characteristic of interfacial friction
within impact system [50, 51].
In the event of ballistic impact, energy from the projectile is dissipated over a large
area so that the bullet is stopped with low fabric deflection. Many studies suggest that
frictional forces are involved during projectile impact on the fabrics and generally
agree that higher friction is needed among the yarns to improve energy absorption
characteristics [2, 3, 47, and 50]. Upon impact, three frictional forces were identified:
friction between the projectile and the fabric; friction between fabric layers in the
66

system, and; friction between yarns (yarn to yarn friction). Among them, the first two
frictional forces can be neglected [52].
Lee et al. [2] reported that Kevlar fabrics impregnated with silica particles dispersed
in ethylene glycol offers low velocity ballistic performance equivalent to that of neat
Kevlar fabric on an areal density basis and a superior performance to neat Kevlar
fabric on layer number basics. Similarly, Tan et al. [3] used silica particles suspended
in water, to impregnate Twaron fabrics, and reported the ballistic limit of samples
increased with particle concentration.
In this study, the ballistic performance of epoxy treated Twaron fabric was
investigated. The friction between the yarns of fabric can be increased by applying
thin layer of epoxy onto the neat fabric. Then, the effect of the stacking sequence of
neat and epoxy treated fabrics will be discussed base on their ballistic performance
and flexibility.
7.2 Test materials and methods
Plain Twaron fabric CT 717 was used in this study. It has a fabric areal density of 280
g/m2. The fabric was cut into a size of 15 cm x 15 cm square layers. A thin layer of
epoxy was applied to the neat Twaron fabric to produce treated plies which were still
flexible. The epoxy used is Araldite Rapid High Performance two-part epoxy
adhesive with a stated curing time of 5 minutes. The treated fabrics were dried at
room temperature for 24 hour to ensure complete curing.
67

Each system consists of 30 plies of fabric (including neat and treated layers). A total
of 8 systems were prepared to investigate the ballistic effect of layer sequences. The
layer arrangement for each system and their areal density are shown in Table 7.1.
Table 7.1: Areal densities of different combinations of neat and epoxy treated Twaron
fabric
Test System
Description
Average Areal
Density (Kg/m2)
30N
30 plies of Neat Twaron
8.53
30E
30 plies of Epoxy Treated Twaron
9.30
15N+15E
15 plies of Neat and 15 plies of Epoxy Treated Twaron
8.98
20N+10E
8.80
10N+10E+10N 10 plies of Neat and 10 plies of Epoxy Treated and 10 plies of Neat Twaron
8.88
10N+20E
9.08
15E+15N
15 plies of Epoxy Treated and 15 plies of Neat Twaron
8.95
20E+10N
20 plies of Epoxy Treated and 10 plies of Neat Twaron
9.08
The experiments were conducted by using a gas gun. The tests were conducted using
14.4 mm diameter spherical shaped projectiles with a mass of 12 g. The impact
velocity was set to 330 m/s ( 5 m/s) and this gives similar impact energy as the NIJ
standard 0101.06 level IIIA [36]. The ballistic performance of each system was
determined by measuring depth of penetration on the clay backing after impact.
In addition, two-dimensional drape tests were performed to measure the flexibility of

the various test systems, as shown in Figure 7.1. In all cases, a 540 g weight was used.
The bending angle is reported as a measure of the system flexibility.
68
10 cm
5 cm
q
Specimen
Projectile
striking
face
540 g of
weight
Figure 7.1: Set-up for measuring the flexibility of test systems, schematic
diagram (left) and photo (right)
7.3 Ballistic performance of stacking sequence of neat and epoxy treated fabric
plies
Figure 7.2 shows the effects of stacking sequence on the depth of penetration (DOP)
in the clay backing. The depth of penetration was produced by the deformation of the
target fabric system. The results show that fabric systems that contained epoxy treated
layers gave lower DOPs compared to a system that only contained 30 neat plies of
fabric (30N).
The difference in ballistic performance between the neat and epoxy treated system is
well illustrated by comparing 30 plies neat (30 N) and 30 plies epoxy treated fabric
(30E). The DOP of the epoxy treated system was found to be 16.8% lower than the
DOP for the neat system (30N). This shows that the epoxy treatment of the fabric
improves its ballistic performance.
69
40
N = Neat Fabric x 5 plies

E = Epoxy Treated fabric x 5 plies
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
30N
30E
15N+15E
20N+10E
10N+10E+10N
10N+20E
Stacking Sequence
Figure 7.2: Depth of penetration in clay witness for systems with combinations of neat
and epoxy treated Twaron fabric for ballistic tests at 330m/s (epoxy treated
plies placed at backface)
Tests were also conducted with a system of 15 plies neat and 15 plies treated
(15N+15E). This gave a 17.8% reduction in DOP compared with 30 neat system
(30N) and almost the same DOP as 30 plies of treated system (30E). This indicates
that a larger number of treated layers do not necessarily decrease DOP and that a mix
of both neat and treated layers gives the optimum performance.
Based on the ballistic performance of a mix of neat and treated layers, tests were done
on different stacking sequence of 20N+10E, 10N+10E+10N and 10N+20E. Among
them, the system of 10N+20E gave the lowest DOP and 18.4% reduction in DOP
when compared with 30 plies of neat system. Compared with 15N+15E system, the
ballistic performances were almost identical. [DOP of 26.72 mm for 15N+15E and
26.39 for 10N+20E]
70
40
E = Epoxy Treated Fabric x 5 plies
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
20N+10E
15N+15E
10N+20E
15E+15N
20E+10N
Stacking Sequence
Figure 7.3: Depth of penetration in clay witness for systems with combinations of neat
and epoxy treated Twaron fabric for ballistic tests at 330m/s (epoxy treated
plies placed at striking face)
The ballistic performances of systems where the treated plies were placed at the
striking face are presented in the Figure 7.3. The result showed that by placing 15
treated plies at the striking face of the system followed by 15 neat plies (15E+15N),
the DOP was increased by 21% as compared to the system of 15N+15E. Additionally,
the DOP for 20E+10N is 7.4% higher than the DOP 10N+20E.
Comparing 20N+10E with 20E+10N, the system with more treated plies gave the
better performance. This is also observed when the systems, 15E+15N and 20E+10N
are compared. The DOP reduced by 12.4 % when 5 treated plies replaced 5 neat plies
in the 15E+15N system to form the 20E+10N system.
It can be concluded that the placement of the treated layers, whether at the front or the
back of the system, affects the DOP. The test results affirm that the treated layers
71

should be placed at the back of the system for optimal ballistic performance. In the
presence of resin, the fabric system turns into a hard and stiff panel [54, 55]. This
leads to an increase in the bending strength of the fabric layers [1] and enhances the
layers resistance to inward deformation, thereby reducing the back face deformation
of the system.
When projectile hit the fabric system, the kinetic energy of the projectile is gradually
reduced as it passes through the layers. It can be said that the epoxy treated plies
might have restricted the yarn to yarn mobility and distributed the remaining impact
energy over a wider area in comparisons to neat fabrics, which result in greater energy
absorption. Therefore, placing the epoxy treated plies behind the neat Twaron plies
gives optimal ballistic performance.
50

E = Epoxy Treated Fabric x 5 plies
Perforation ratio(%)
40
30
20
10
0
30N
30E
15N+15E
20N+10E
10N+10E+10N
10N+20E
Stacking Sequence
Figure 7.4: Percentage of perforated plies for systems with combinations of neat and
epoxy treated Twaron fabric for ballistic tests at 330m/s
72

Figure 7.4 compares the number of plies perforated in systems of different stacking
sequence. The systems containing epoxy treated layers had a larger number of layers
perforated as compared to system 30N. System 30E with only treated layers had the
most number of layers perforated. The results also show that the systems of 30N and
15N+15E give the lowest perforation ratio as compared to the other systems.
35
Average DOP (mm)
30N
30E
30
15N+15E
20N+10E
10N+10E+10N
25
10N+20E
15E+15N
20E+10N
20
20
25
30
35
40
45
Perforation ratio (%)
Figure 7.5: Average depth of penetration in clay witness versus percentage of

perforated plies for neat-epoxy treated systems for ballistic tests at
330m/s
The effect of stacking sequence of systems on ballistic performance in terms of DOP

and perforation ratio is shown in Figure 7.5. Comparing system 15N+15E with
15E+15N and 10N+20E with 20E+10N, shows that the placement of neat layers at the
front and treated layers at the back of the system results in less layers perforated as
compared to the reverse configuration. A larger number of frontal layers is perforated
when the treated layers were placed at the striking face. This could be attributed to the
treated layers having lower energy dissipation capabilities at very high velocities and
73

are thus perforated more easily than neat layers. The system of 15N+15E gives the
best performance with low DOP and low perforation ratio.
It was experimentally determined that Twaron is a strain-rate dependent viscoelastic

material [53]. It was found that the failure strain of the fabric material decreases with
increasing strain-rate. This characteristic of the fabric limits its deformation at high
strain rates and causes the fabric to fail in a brittle mode [1].
At high strain rates however, the higher stiffness increases the fabrics resistance to
deformation and makes it more susceptible to brittle fracture. As such, the epoxy
treated fabric would fracture faster and dissipate less energy than neat fabrics at the
striking face. Additionally, the amount of energy dissipated due to frictional work is
very low or negligible compared to neat fabric. This could be the reason why the
numbers of perforated plies increased when the epoxy treated plies were placed at the
projectile striking face.
35
Average DOP (mm)
30N
30E
30
15N+15E
20N+10E
10N+10E+10N
25
10N+20E
15E+15N
20E+10N
20
0
10
15
20
25
30
35
Bending Angle (Degree)
Figure 7.6: Average depth of penetration in clay witness versus bending angle for
neat-epoxy treated systems
74

The flexibility of various stacking systems and their average DOP are presented in
Figure 7.6. It clearly shows that the presence of treated layers in the systems can
cause a decrease in flexibility. This is expected due to the stiff nature of epoxy resin.
The flexibility of a system containing only neat layers (30N) decreases by 85% when
all the layers are treated with epoxy (30E). Although, the DOP for 30E was 16.8%
lower than the DOP for 30N, the 30E system is significantly less flexible and this will
affect the comfort and mobility of the wearer. This significant decrease in flexibility
highlights the tradeoff between ballistic resistance and flexibility of ballistic fibers
due to epoxy treatment. Among the different stacking systems, 15N+15E and
10N+20E give the best performance with low DOP and high flexibility.
7.4 Mode of deformation and energy absorption mechanisms
Figure 7.7: A perforated layer of neat fabric (Left) and epoxy treated fabric (Right)
In the ballistic impact tests on fabric systems, some of the front layers of various
systems were perforated. Figure 7.7 shows the last perforated layer of neat fabric and
epoxy treated fabric from different systems. Bowing, one of the fabric failure
75

mechanisms, was obviously found in the neat layer. Bowing is produced by pushing
aside of yarns during a projectiles passage through the fabric [48]. This leads to a
greater back face deformation of the target system.
It can be seen that the treated fabric exhibits significantly less yarn pullout than the
neat fabric and also exhibits significant fiber breakage at the impact point. These
results suggest that the epoxy increases inter yarn friction and constrains the Twaron
yarns as they are pulled through the fabric.
Increase in energy dissipation in the treated fabric could be due to an accretion in

force required to pullout each yarn from the fabric. The increased pullout resistance
induces the loads on the yarns during impact, which then absorb additional energy
through fiber deformation and fracture [2].
7.5 Ballistic impact tests on epoxy treated Twaron fabric with STP-fabric
composite blunt trauma pad
Based on the results mentioned in Section 5.3, ballistic tests were done on a combined
system comprising the best performing STP package system and Twaron fabric
systems. The tests simulate the placement of a blunt trauma pad (STP-fabric pad)
behind body armor (fabric systems 30N, 15N+15E and 10N+20E) and investigate the
pads effectiveness in reducing blunt trauma when used together with body armor. A
velocity of 350m/s which gives equivalent impact energy of Level IIIA of the NIJ
ballistic standard [36] was used. This velocity was also used for the ballistic tests on
76

the fabric systems. The area of the pad and fabric layers used was 150 by 150mm and
the thickness of the pad was 6mm, which is a reasonable thickness for trauma pads.
35
With 6mm STP Pad
32.52
Without Pad
30
25
26.72
26.39
24.1
20.19
19.12
15N +15E
10N + 20E
20
15
10
5
0
30N
Stacking Sequence
Figure 7.8: Depth of penetration in clay witness for neat-epoxy treated composite
systems with and without STP for ballistic tests at 350 m/s
Figure 7.8 shows that the addition of the pad reduced the DOP of the 3 fabric systems
used for the tests by about 25% thus highlighting the effectiveness of the trauma pad
in reducing blunt trauma when placed behind body armor.
7.6 Conclusion
In this study, the ballistic performance of the epoxy treated Twaron fabric was
investigated. The ballistic impact tests showed that systems containing a mix of both
treated and neat layers have better ballistic resistance than a system consisting of only
neat layers. The test results also showed that the treated layers should be placed at the
back of the system for the better ballistic performance.
77

Among the different stacking systems, 15N+15E and 10N+20E gave the best
performance with low depth of penetration and high flexibility of the system. And the
system of 15N+15E also shows the best performance with low DOP and low
perforation ratio. From this study, it can be concluded that the system of 15 neat + 15
treated was most effective in reducing the blunt trauma of fabric system.
Kinetic energy of the projectile when impacted into the target is dissipated and
absorbed in various ways. The main energy absorbing mechanisms during ballistic
impact are: kinetic energy absorbed by the forming of the cone shape on the back face
of the target, shear plugging of the projectile into the neat Twaron plies and energy
absorbed and distributed over a large area due to inter yarn frictional force of epoxy
treated Twaron plies. The stacking sequence was found to be important in improving
the protective performance of the test system, which affected not only the back face
signature (BFS) value but also the perforation ratio (or ballistic limit).
Test results confirmed that the addition of the STP-fabric pad reduced the DOP of the
frontal fabric systems by about 25%, thus highlighting the effectiveness of the trauma
pad in reducing blunt trauma when placed behind body armor. By increasing the
thickness of the STP-fabric pad, some of frontal Twaron layers can be removed to
maintain the lower DOP results. It also leads to lower areal density of protective
system (frontal Twaron layers and STP-fabric pad) and provides higher flexibility for
the wearer.
78
Chapter 8 Application of Shear Thickening Polymers in Hip Protectors

8 Application of Shear Thickening Polymers in Hip Protectors
8.1 Introduction
Hip fractures are a serious problem worldwide nowadays and their incidence is
expected to rise. The main reasons for hip fractures are a combination of osteoporosis
and a fall with an impact in the area of the greater trochanter [56, 57]. A hip protector
is designed to protect against impacts resulting from sideways falls [56]. There are
two different types of hip protectors: (1) Hard hip protectors that shunt impact forces
into the surrounding tissues and (2) soft hip protectors of the energy-absorbing type
that have the ability to absorb impacts [58].
The effectiveness of hip protectors depends on two factors: (1) mechanical features
especially the force attenuation capacity and (2) compliance (i.e. the patients
willingness to wear the hip protectors), which is influenced by wearing comfort [59].
Although, one of the main problems with hip protectors is poor compliance [60], the
factors which are primarily involved in the effectiveness of hip protectors are their
mechanical properties, which are determined by the protectors themselves.
The
objective of this study is to compare the force attenuation capacity of 4 different

commercially available hip protectors with the flexible Shear Thickening Polymer
(STP) composite pads.
79

8.2 Materials and testing method
In this study four different hip protectors: 3 soft hip protectors, 1 hard hip protector
(Figure 8.1), and STP Composite Pads (Figure 8.2): 15 mm and 25 mm thick, were
mechanically tested for the comparison of the force attenuation capacity. The
Properties of the commercially available hip protectors are shown in Table 8.1.
Figure 8.1: Hip protectors : (top left) Hip Saver; (top right) Safehip; (bottom left)
Hornsby hip protector; (bottom right) Impactwear shields.
Figure 8.2: Flexible shear thickening polymer pads (left) 15 mm thick; (right) 25 mm
thick
80

Table 8.1: Description of hip protectors
Hip protector (country)
Material of the protector
Suggested mechanism
Hip Saver (SHP 1)

(HipSaver, Inc., USA)
Urethane foam in a waterproof

airtight pouch
Energy shunting
Energy absorption
Safehip (SHP 2)
(Tytex Group, Denmark)
AirX spacer fabric technology
Energy dispersion and

Energy absorption
Hornsby hip protector (SHP 3)

(Hornsby Comfy Hips Pty Ltd,
Australia)
Soft dimpled silicone
Energy absorption
Glass reinforced polypropylene

polymer
Energy shunting
Energy absorption
Soft hip protectors (SHP)
Hard hip protectors

Impactwear shields (HHP)
Impactwear Hip Protectors Limited,
Auckland, New Zealand
The tests were performed with a drop weight impact testing system (Figure 8.3). The
testing system consists of: (1) an impactor representing a mass of 1.495 kg, which is
made of steel and hemisphere-shaped tip with a radius of 25 mm and (2) steel base
plate which was tightly fastened to the PCB PIEZOTRONIC 450 kN load cell.
Figure 8.3: Drop weight impact set-up for testing hip protectors
81

Mechanical testing of different hip protectors according to a European Standard
testing method for protective impact clothing (EN 1621-1) were performed by Holzer
[56] where an impactor is released vertically onto the hip protectors with impact
energy of 50J.
Schoor and et al. [61] used a drop weight impact testing system and a surrogate femur
for biomechanical comparison of hard and soft hip protectors. A weight of 25 kg was
dropped from a height of 8 cm causing a force of almost 7806 N on the bare femur,
which simulates a severe fall. After the calibration test, soft tissue and the different
hip protectors in combination with the soft tissue were tested.
In this study, the force attenuation capacity comparison for the hip protectors and STP
composite pad are evaluated. An Impact Energy of 1.467 J was used for all testing.
This was achieved by the drop mass of 1.495 kg and drop height of 10cm, which
produced an impact force of 10000 N when the impactor directly dropped onto the
base steel plate which attached load cell. Each hip protector and STP pad was placed
with its centre on the base steel plates and was tested three times. The force values
obtained from the load cell were compared.
Based on, preliminary test results, the force attenuation capacity of the STP composite
pads and 4 different hip protectors will be compared and discussed. All hip protectors
were tested using drop weight impact testing system to evaluate the force attenuation
capacity.
82

Schoor et al [61] presented the results of the biomechanical comparison of hard and
soft hip protectors with a soft tissue layer of 1 inch. The results showed that all hip
protectors reduced the impact below the average fracture threshold of 3100 N. They
also showed that the hard hip protectors reduced the impact significantly more than
the soft hip protectors together with soft tissue.
In this study, all hip protectors were capable in reducing the impact to below 1000N
which is 10 times less than the force received from the load cell directly hit by
impactor (Figure 8.4). Among them, the 15 mm thick STP composite pad which has
almost the same thickness as the soft hip protection pad, gives the lowest peak impact
force value. By increasing the thickness of the STP composite pad from 15 mm to 25
mm, the results show that the system can attenuate more impact energy and the peak
force was reduced by up to 40%. It was found that the force attenuation capacity of
the soft hip protectors could be improved by increasing their thickness. However, this
may have negative effect on compliance. Another mechanism observed in figure 8.5
is that all STP Pads significantly delay the force over time, thereby, decreasing the
peak force compared to the hard and soft hip protectors.
83
Peak force in Newton
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0
SHP 1
SHP 2
SHP 3
STP[15]
STP [25]
HHP 1
Hip protectors
Figure 8.4: Average peak force transmitted through hip protectors for impact energy of
1.467 J.
SHP 1
1.00
SHP 2
Force (kN)
0.80
0.60
SHP 3
0.40
STP[15]
0.20
STP[25]
0.00
0
10
15
20
25
30
35
HHP 1
Time (ms)
Figure 8.5: Force transmitted through hip protectors versus time for impact energy of
1.467 J.
84

8.4 Conclusion
It was possible to make fair comparison of the force attenuation capacity between the
hip protectors and STP pads by using drop weight impact testing system. The
preliminary test results showed that the newly developed flexible STP pads exhibit
good impact force attenuation capacity. The STP pad is soft, flexible and it has an
approximate density of 750 kg/m3. It can be concluded that the newly developed STP
pad has great potential for hip protection applications due to its superior flexibility,
light weight and good force attenuation capacity. The mechanical testing should be
conducted with standardized testing system for further investigations on the
performance of the flexible shear thickening polymer composite pad.
85
Chapter 9 Conclusions
9 Conclusions
In this work shear thickening materials has been investigated to be efficiently utilized
as part of energy absorbing composites for blunt trauma applications. The cornstarch
water suspension (STF) which has shear thickening properties was exploited for the
use of high velocity impact absorption, particularly to reduce behind amour injuries.
A proof that such a system can effectively reduce such injuries is sought.
The low velocity impact resistance of STF with different thickness and concentration
was studied. In this finding, the concentration of 58.82wt% showed the best
performance in resisting impact forces. Furthermore, the addition of Twaron fabric
improved the performance of the STF system only slightly. However, the addition of
aluminum legs to the Twaron fabric significantly reduced the penetration depth and
increased energy absorption. With a better understanding of its shear thickening
characteristics, a new impact resistant composite system for the high velocity impact
was developed.
The composite system was developed by subjecting different systems containing the
STF and various composite layers to ballistic. The energy absorption/dissipation of
the system was investigated in terms of penetration depth. The tests suggested that the
combination of the composite layers and STF resulted in greater impact energy
dissipation. It was also shown that developed STF-fabric composite pad was effective
in reducing blunt trauma.
86
Thereafter, a new shear thickening material was introduced and a shear thickening
polymer (STP)-fabric composite pad developed. The effectiveness of the STP with
different composite layers was studied. The results showed that the STP pad
containing 4 plies (2 x 2) of epoxy treated Twaron gives the lowest DOP. Comparing
the STP pad and STF pad, the STP pad performed better in terms of areal density and
ballistic performance.
A new flexible impact energy absorption pad which utilizes shear thickening polymer
was developed to reduce back face injury. The series of tests prove that the newly
developed shear thickening polymer pad can increase the ballistic limit of Twaron
fabric frontal plies. It can also increase the energy absorption capacity of the system.
Due to the combined effect and energy absorption mechanism of materials used in the
STP pad, the developed STP pad not only reduces blunt trauma, but also increases the
ballistic limit and energy absorption capacity of the armor systems.
In addition, the ballistic performance of the epoxy treated Twaron fabric was studied.
The added epoxy treated layers in fabric systems was investigated. The ballistic
impact tests showed that systems containing a mix of both treated and neat layers
have better ballistic resistance than a system consisting of only neat layers. The test
results also showed that the treated layers should be placed at the back of the system
for the better ballistic performance. Among the different stacking systems, 15N+15E
and 10N+20E gave the best performance with low depth of penetration and high
flexibility of the system. The system of 15N+15E also shows the best performance
with low DOP and low perforation ratio. From this study, it can be concluded that the
87
system of 15 neat + 15 treated was most effective in reducing the blunt trauma of
fabric system.
Test results confirmed that the addition of the STP-fabric pad reduced the DOP of the
frontal fabric systems by about 25%, thus highlighting the effectiveness of the STP
trauma pad in reducing blunt trauma when placed behind body armor. By increasing
the thickness of the STP-fabric pad, some of frontal Twaron layers can be removed to
maintain the lower DOP results. It also leads to lower areal density of protective
system (frontal Twaron layers and STP-fabric pad) and provides higher flexibility for
the wearer.
Finally, another application for the newly developed STP-fabric composite pad was
presented. The preliminary test results showed that the newly developed flexible STP
pads exhibit good impact force attenuation capacity. It can be concluded that the
newly developed STP pad has great potential for hip protection applications due to its
superior flexibility, light weight and good force attenuation capacity.
88
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95
Appendix
Appendix A Compression of clay backing
Figure A: Compression of clay backing with machine(Top) and Flat clay surface
before impact (Bottom)
A metal block with a base of 93.6 x 101.7mm and height 25.3mm is placed on top of
the clay during compression to ensure the compressive force is distributed evenly. A
force of 1962N is applied to the block of clay for 10 seconds to ensure a well
compressed block free of voids. Excess clay is removed after compression, using a
hand saw.
96
Appendix
Appendix B Measurement of DOP in clay backing
Figure B: Indentation on clay backing (Left) and measurement of DOP (Right)
Measurement of DOP is done with a digital height gauge with a pointer attached.
Before impact, the pointer is lowered to the flat surface of the clay backing, and the
reading is calibrated to zero. After impact, the pointer is lowered to the lowest point
of the indentation and the DOP is read off the meter. Calibration has to be done before
impact as part of the clay surface will be raised after impact.
97
Appendix
Appendix CFibrous surfaces used for ballistic impact tests on STF packages
2 ply epoxy treated Twaron with second layer roughened [image shows roughened
layer]
1 ply epoxy treated Twaron bonded with non-woven polyester fiber pad [image on
Left shows polyester surface]
Figure C: Fibrous surfaces used for System 5 (Top) and System 6 (Bottom)
98
Appendix
Appendix D Dimensions of metal box containing clay backing
RIGHT
FRONT
ISOMETRIC
PLAN
Figure D: Dimensions of metal box containing clay backing
99
Appendix
Appendix E - Dimensions of wooden box containing clay backing
RIGHT
FRONT
ISOMETRIC
PLAN
Figure E: Dimensions of Plywood box [Central hole not present for ballistic impact test, hole was created for impact energy
absorption test]
100
Appendix
Appendix F - Detailed results for ballistic tests on STP packages

Table F: Concentration tests
1 ply front layer

Twaron
58.8wt%
55 wt%
52.6 wt%
Water(300ml)
Empty package
Test 1
Velocity
DOP
(m/s)
(mm)
74.10
8.62
77.10
10.95
75.50
9.57
72.60
10.24
73.00
12.90
Test 2
Velocity
DOP
(m/s)
(mm)
72.60
7.98
76.00
10.20
74.10
10.40
73.90
11.60
74.50
13.30
Test 3
Velocity
DOP
(m/s)
(mm)
71.80
7.40
72.00
8.60
71.00
10.30
72.30
9.90
73.00
11.90
Test 4
Velocity
DOP
(m/s)
(mm)
73.10
8.30
Test 5
Velocity
DOP
(m/s)
(mm)
73.10
9.40
Average
Velocity
DOP
(m/s)
(mm)
72.83
8.00
74.26
9.49
73.53
10.09
72.93
10.58
73.50
12.70
101
Appendix
Appendix G - Detailed results for ballistic impact (blunt trauma) tests on STP packages
Table G1: DOP results for ballistic impact test on packages with no STF or STP
Test 1
Test 2
Test 3
Average
No STF
System Thickness Mass Velocity D.O.P Velocity D.O.P Velocity D.O.P Velocity D.O.P
(mm)
(g)
(m/s)
(mm) (m/s)
(mm) (m/s)
(mm) (m/s)
(mm)
A
0
0
151.8 61.88
153.5 63.81
149.7 61.06
151.7 62.25
B
1.8
3
150.8 28.93
149.9 27.13
150.5 28.03
150.4 28.03
Table G2: DOP results for ballistic impact test on STP packages
Shear Thickening Polymer
System Thickness Mass
(mm)
(g)
1
15
60
2
15
58
3
15
58
4
15
57
5
15
57
6
15
45
Test 1
Test 2
Test 3
Average
Velocity D.O.P Velocity D.O.P Velocity D.O.P Velocity D.O.P
(m/s)
(mm) (m/s)
(mm) (m/s)
(mm) (m/s)
(mm)
146.6 56.32
149.7 58.61
152.9 59.76
149.7 58.23
152.4 20.01
148.7 16.73
150.6 17.24
150.6 17.99
151.2 12.47
151.8 13.02
149.7 11.69
150.9 12.39
150.3
9.53
153.5 10.89
151.1 10.31
151.6 10.24
151.5 11.38
150.6 10.14
147.0
9.64
149.7 10.39
152.4 15.10
148.0 13.61
150.6 14.06
150.3 14.26
102
Appendix
Table G3: DOP results for ballistic impact test on STF packages
Test 1
Test 2
Test 3
Test 4
Average
STF (58.8wt% Cornstarch)
Thickness Mass
Velocity D.O.P Velocity D.O.P Velocity D.O.P Velocity D.O.P Velocity
D.O.P
System (mm)
(g)
(m/s)
(mm) (m/s)
(mm) (m/s)
(mm) (m/s)
(mm) (m/s)
(mm)
1
15
205
152.1 42.31
150.3 41.56
147.6 39.72
149.7 41.19
149.9
41.20
2
15
193
149.7 29.85
147.1 28.76
153.8 31.61
150.6 30.05
150.3
30.07
3
15
193
149.7
9.51
151.8 10.32
148.1
8.98
149.9
9.60
4
15
190
148.4
7.1
149.7
7.16
150.6
7.38
149.6
7.21
5
15
190
148.1
5.62
148.8
5.78
151.3
6.23
149.4
5.88
6
15
170
147.4
7.61
153.1
8.36
150.6
7.98
150.4
7.98
* Area of Targets: 100mm by 100mm
103
Appendix
Appendix H - Detailed results for ballistic impact test for epoxy treated Twaron fabric systems
Table H1: DOP results for ballistic impact test epoxy treated Twaron fabric systems
Fabric
Velocity (m/s)
Mass (g)
DOP (mm)
Perforated Ply
system Configuration
Test
Test
Test
Test
Test
Test
Test
Test
Test
AVG
Bending
Test
Test
Test
Angle
(Deg)
30N
337.8 328.9
328.9
191
193
192
32.15
33.75
31.65
32.52
32.3
30E
335
328.9
328.9
209
210
209
28.11
26.85
26.19
27.05
13
11
10
4.2
15N + 15E
328.9 328.9
328.9
201
206
203
27.14
25.93
27.08
26.72
14
20N + 10E
328.9 324.5
324.5
195
198
201
27.72
30.32
29.71
29.25
10
22.2
10N + 10E + 10N
326.7 328.9
328.9
201
199
199
31.36
31.27
29.24
30.62
10
10
17.8
10N + 20E
326.7 328.9
328.9
205
203
205
26.68
26.33
26.15
26.39
10
11
12
15E + 15 N
328.9 328.9
328.9
202
201
201
32.36
31.94
32.74
32.35
12
10
12
14
20E + 10 N
328.9 328.9
328.9
205
207
201
28.71
26.71
29.57
28.33
10
10
10
12
* Area of each layer of Twaron : 150mm by 150mm
104

Thesis Energy Dissipating Composite System Utilizing STF

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Thesis Energy Dissipating Composite System Utilizing STF

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DEVELOPMENT OF HIGH ENERGY DISSIPATION COMPOSITE

SYSTEM UTILIZING SHEAR THICKENING MATERIALS

I would like to express my deep and sincere gratitude to my supervisors, Professor

2.3.2 Order-disorder theory....10

Drop Impact response of shear thickening fluids...13

Reducing blunt trauma with shear thickening fluids..21

4.2.1.3 Clay backing..25

4.5.1 Effectiveness of different combination of composite systems

Reducing blunt trauma with shear thickening polymers....43

Improving ballistic limit with shear thickening polymers ....57

Incorporation of epoxy treated Twaron fabric for impact protection.66

Application of shear thickening polymers in hip protectors..79

Compression of clay backing...96

Measurement of DOP in clay backing.97

Fibrous surfaces used for ballistic impact test on STP packages.....98

Dimensions of metal box containing clay backing......99

Dimensions of wooden box containing clay backing.100

Detailed results for ballistic tests on STP packages...101

Detailed results for ballistic impact (blunt trauma) tests

Detailed results for ballistic impact test for epoxy treated

different concentration was performed. The performance of impact resistance was

Table 4.1 Twaron CT717 fabric specifications......24

The main objectives of this investigation are as follows:

To develop and evaluate the effectiveness of STF-fabric composites in

To develop and evaluate the effectiveness of STP-fabric composites in

To investigate the effect of stacking sequence of neat and epoxy treated

The scope of this study encompasses the followings:

To conduct ballistic impact tests based on NIJ standard 0101.06 using 12 mm

To explore the application of the STP-fabric composite system.

Chapter 2 Literature Review

2.1 Soft body armor

Chapter 2 Literature Review

Behind armor blunt trauma

Behind armor blunt trauma (BABT) is the spectrum of non-penetrating injuries

Chapter 2 Literature Review

Chapter 2 Literature Review

A shear thickening fluid is an example of a non-Newtonian fluid, a fluid whose flow

Chapter 2 Literature Review

Shear thickening fluids are composed of highly concentrated suspensions dispersed in

Chapter 2 Literature Review

2.3.2 Order-disorder theory

Chapter 2 Literature Review

Another explanation for the shear thickening behavior of concentrated suspension is

Figure 2.4: Hydrocluster theory for shear thickening suspension morphology

Chapter 2 Literature Review

Chapter 3 Drop Impact Response of Shear Thickening Fluids

Chapter 3 Drop Impact Response of Shear Thickening Fluids

Figure 3.1: Micrograph of cornstarch particles

Chapter 3 Drop Impact Response of Shear Thickening Fluids

3.2.2 Experimental set-up and test method

Figure 3.4: Perspex acrylic container with clay

Figure 3.5: Photo of Twaron fabric with

Chapter 3 Drop Impact Response of Shear Thickening Fluids

3.3 Results and discussion

Chapter 3 Drop Impact Response of Shear Thickening Fluids

10 mm STF with Impact Energy of 13.091 J

STF with Twaron

STF with Twaron

Chapter 3 Drop Impact Response of Shear Thickening Fluids

STF with Twaron

STF with Twaron

Chapter 3 Drop Impact Response of Shear Thickening Fluids

Depth of Penetration (mm)

STF with Twaron