Evaluation of Shear-Thickening-Fluid Kevlar for Large-Fragment-Containment Applications

Abstract

Application of a shear thickening fluid (STF) treatment to neat Kevlar has been reported to improve fabric ballistic performance, for impacts of 0.22 caliber fragment simulating projectiles at velocities near 800 feet per second. In recent research, the authors have evaluated the ballistic performance of STF Kevlar in a series of impact experiments performed using larger projectiles and thicker targets, at impact velocities near 1,000 feet per second, including two different fabric boundary conditions. The experimental results indicate that under these test conditions, the impact protection afforded by STF Kevlar is at best equivalent to that provided by neat Kevlar at the same areal density. In addition, the ballistic performance of STF Kevlar was found to be strongly dependent on fabric target boundary conditions, with the best performance obtained in a friction sensitive target configuration that is not representative of current body armor, orbital debris shielding, or turbine blade containment systems.