Title: Synthesis and characterization of shear thickening fluids for soft armours applications

Abstract

Body armour for the military has traditionally been designed to provide protection against fragmentation and ballistic threats. Armours have traditionally been protected based on steel which gives rise to extremely heavy structure and weight, provides logistical problems and discomforts due to transport to a battle site. Soft Armour is a ballistic protection technology that provides security for people in vulnerable environments. Presently, high performance fibres have been used to make soft ballistic body armors for the realization of lightweight, flexibility and comfort. But inclusion of these fibers has resulted in significant improvements in the cost of body amours. The Shear thickening fluid (STF) has attracted attention for impact protection due to its unique properties subject to impact. STF is a non-Newtonian fluid and shear thickening behaviour is triggered by a sudden increase of shear rate to the STF, which causes colloidal dispersions to concentrated exhibiting an abrupt increase in viscosity. In this perspective, the present research work is focused on the preparation and characterization of a novel shear thickening nanocomposite fluid to improve the stab resistance and to resist the penetration of bullets in soft wearable armours. The present work endeavours towards the development and characterization of ZnO nanoparticle dispersed shear thickening fluid. The shape and size dependency of the nanoparticles on the shear stress behaviour of shear thickening fluid (STF) was studied. The optimized composite STF was coated on polypropylene (PP) woven fabric and further characterized for its stab and ballistic impact resistance.