Harnessing the strength of shear-thickening fluid

BAE Systems is developing radical new 'Liquid Armour' that gives soldiers
the same level of protection they currently enjoy but allows them to move
with much greater freedom. It takes advantage of the distinctive properties
of shear-thickening fluids and combines them with Kevlar, one of the
materials used in current armour.

HOW IT COMPARES What is shear-thickening fluid (STF)?

Existing Kevlar armour It is a fluid in which special particles are
is stiff, it can impeed freely suspended. When the fluid is
movement and disturbed the particles collide, creating
cause dis-comfort. a resistance to the disturbance. If the force
of the disturbance is large enough, the
particles will actually lock together.

If you were to slowly

stir a container of
STF you would feel
some resistance. If
While liquid armour provdes
you began to stir
a similar level of protection
faster, the resitance
it is more flexible and is
would increase.
45 per cent thinner than
existing Kevlar armour.

HOW IT WORKS
P O I N T O F I M PA C T

Side view Side view

P O S T I M PA C T
www.richardpalmergraphics.com

Side view Side view

TRADITIONAL KEVLAR LIQUID ARMOUR (Kevlar with STF)

T: 01749 671519

When traditional Kevlar is struck by a bullet
the major physical deformation of the
material is local to the point of impact.
It can also be seen that the bullet has
significantly “dented” the material.
When liquid armuor is struck by a bullet the force
is spread over a wider area. After impact the
liquid armour returns to a flexible form.
In cross-section, it can be seen that the depth of
penetration is also less than in traditional Kevlar.

SOURCE: BAE Systems

NOTE: These illustrations are schematic and do not represent 100% accurate depictions of the subject matter.

Spotlight on how technology developed by BAE Systems is giving combat troops a real advantage>
‘Liquid armour’ turns hard
enough to stop bullets
Innovative
An innovative “liquid
armour” that can stop bul-
lets has been developed by
BAE Systems engineers.
By combining Kevlar with
special shear-thickening
liquids that lock together
when struck with force, they
have created a new bullet-
proof material which is 45
per cent thinner than tradi-
tional armour yet offers the
same level of protection.
This research shows that
liquid armour could effec-
tively protect soldiers from
bullets or shrapnel and
could ultimately be used to
make much lighter, more
flexible and more effective
bullet-proof vests for
soldiers.
The counter-intuitive liq-
uid which hardens when
struck has been developed
at the Advanced Technology
Centre in the UK as part of a
project to create future body
ar mour offering troops
increased protection with
reduced mass, wider area
coverage, greater maneuver-
ability and easy integration
with other systems.
The liquid armour tech-
nology har nesses the
unique properties of shear
thickening fluids to enhance
the existing energy absorb-
ing properties of material
structures such as Kevlar.
Ceramic-based armour
plates used in current body
armour systems to cover
large areas of the torso are
heavy and bulky, restricting
movement and contributing
to fatigue, particularly in
harsh environments like
Afghanistan.
Stewart Penney, Head of
Business Development for
Design and Materials
Technologies at the ATC,
said: “The technology is
best explained by the exam-
ple of stirring water with a
spoon. In water you feel lit-
tle resistance to the spoon.
Whereas with ‘liquid
A clear view deep into the battlefield
A new generation of
thermal weapons
sights developed by
BAE Systems is helping
combat soldiers increase
their situational
awareness, lethality,
survivability, and mobility.
These advanced, sec-
ond-generation sights are
lighter, quieter, and use
less power than the first
generation. Reducing a
soldier’s load by decreas-
ing battery requirements
is key to improving
survivability and mobility.
BAE Systems’ thermal
sights enable soldiers to
see deep into the battle-
Harnessing the strength of shear-thickening fluid
armour’, you would feel sig-
nificant resistance as the
elements in the fluid lock
together. The faster you stir,
the harder it gets, so when
a projectile impacts the
material at speed, it hard-
ens very quickly and
absorbs the impact energy.”
When integrated with
Kevlar, the reduced flow of
field to detect, identify,
and engage targets at
longer ranges through
smoke, fog, and battle-
field obscurants and in
extremely low light levels.
The US Army recently
awarded BAE Systems a
US$123m contract for
continued production of
IT FEELS GOOD TO BE WORKING
ON A PRODUCT THAT I KNOW
SAVES LIVES. WE TRY OUR BEST
TO MAKE THE BEST PRODUCT WE
CAN SO OUR SERVICE PEOPLE
CAN COME HOME SAFE
Nancy McLaughlin, engineering assistant – and mother of a US Marine
the fluids in the liquid
armour restricts the motion
of the fabric yarns in relation
to each other, resulting in an
increase in area over which
the impact energy is dis-
persed. As a result, the
material is also far less like-
ly to distort than standard
body armour, which gener-
ally bends inwards when a
the sights. The order, the
most recent under a five-
year, indefinite-delivery/
indefinite-quantity con-
tract, increases the total
contract value to more
than US$1bn since 2004.
The Company produces
three thermal weapon
sight configurations for use
THE MATERIAL bullet strikes, preventing
death, but causing consid-
IS FAR LESS erable pain.
LIKELY TO Trials conducted at the
DISTORT THAN ATC in Filton near Bristol
have shown the liquid
STANDARD armour allows thinner than
ARMOUR, standard armour to with-
WHICH BENDS stand equivalent levels of
INWARDS forces. An early prototype of
the technology has been
with rifles, machine guns, can detect targets
and mounted weapon at more than 2,000
systems. Incorporating, metres.
BAE Systems MicroIR® Bruce Zukauskas,
uncooled infrared sensor Director of Soldier
technology, these sights Solutions in
generate superior infrared Lexington,
digital imagery and system Massachusetts, where
performance at maximum the infrared sensor
possible ranges. technology for the sights
The light sight, is developed, said:
designed for rifles, can “Soldiers now have 24/7
recognise targets at more day and night capability to
than 680 metres. The identify targets beyond
medium sight, which
mounts on machine
the effective range of
their individual weapons.”
guns, has a range of Nancy McLaughlin,
1,100 metres, while the mechanical engineering
heavy sight – for 50- assistant at Lexington,
calibre machine guns – Massachusetts, said:
demonstrated and in the
future BAE Systems hopes
to further develop liquid
armour to create a light-
weight version and
incorporate the technology
into body armour systems.
The ATC team is consider-
ing applications of potential
interest to police forces and
ambulance crews.
Above: BAE Systems is in the third year of a five-year contact and has
delivered more than 89,000 thermal weapon sights to the US Army
“It feels good to be work-
ing on a product that I
know saves lives,”
Nancy is a mother of a
US Marine who served in
Iraq. “I know every little
thing we can do back
home to keep our guys
and girls safe means the
BAE SYSTEMSNews
Issue 6 2010 03
Keeping
troops on
the move
protected
An all-inclusive body
armour system, called
the Scalable Soldier
Protection System
(SSPS), was unveiled by
BAE Systems at the
Association of the United
States Army annual
exhibition in Washington
D.C. in October.
Designed to improve
the way soldiers wear
and use their protective
equipment, SSPS is an
integrated system that
comprises a soft armour
vest, plate carrier and
load bearing belt.
Using technologies
and designs developed
from the Company’s
Ultra Lightweight Warrior
programme, the vest
can be transformed
within seconds from a
concealable configura-
tion that provides solid
protection in low-risk
threat situations, to a full
tactical vest required for
high-risk missions.
“It's not enough to just
offer individual body
armour components.
The individual compo-
nents have to be able to
work together as a sys-
tem, and not get in the
way of a soldier’s mobility,”
said Val Horvatich,
Director of Advanced
Programs at Personnel
Protection Systems.
“With SSPS, we’ve creat-
ed a next generation and
a true body armour
system that not only
enhances mobility and
proper weight distribu-
tion, but allows soldiers
to configure the system
any way they want.”
world to me.”
She added: “ I believe
most of the people who
work on TWS believe the
same thing. We try our
best to make the best
product we can so our
service people can come
home safe.”