Interactive effects of p-aramid fabric structure and shear thickening fluid on impact resistance performance of soft armor materials

Soft body armors are generally made with fabrics woven from high performance yarns. Impact resistance of woven fabrics mostly depends upon fiber type, weave and thread density. Of late, woven fabrics made from high performance yarns are being impregnated with shear thickening fluids (STFs) to enhance their impact resistance. In this research, five different weave structures were prepared with varying thread densities of p-aramid (Technora) yarns, followed by treatment with 60% w/w STF to develop soft armor materials. Untreated and STF treated Technora fabrics were evaluated for energy absorption using dynamic impact resistance tester. In untreated condition, plain woven fabrics showed the highest impact resistance, followed by 3/1 twill, 2/2 twill, 5 end satin and 2/2 matt. STF treatment improved the impact resistance performance in all the weave structures and thread densities except for the plain weave with the highest thread density. The ascending order of weaves in terms of enhancement in impact energy absorption after STF treatment was exactly opposite to the ascending order of weaves in terms of impact energy absorption before STF treatment. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.