Novel Flexible Body Armor Utilizing Shear Thickening Fluid (STF) Composites

(1513) Dr. Eric D. Wetzel

ewetzel@arl.army.mil 410-306-0851

Prof. Norman J. Wagner

wagner@che.udel.edu 302-831-8079 Young Sil Lee Ron Egres Keith Kirkwood John Kirkwood Phil Matthews

Army Research Laboratory

Composites and Lightweight Structures Branch Bldg. 4600, AMSRL-WM-MB Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD 21005-5069

University of Delaware
Dept. of Chemical Engineering and Center for Composite Materials Newark, DE 19716

14th International Conference on Composite Materials San Diego, CA

14 July 2003

Outline
Background Body armor Shear thickening fluids (STFs) STF / Kevlar composite Experiments Ballistic tests Flexibility tests Stab tests Mechanisms of energy absorption in STF composite Continuing work

Body Armor
Conventional body armor 20-40 layers of neat Kevlar
Rigid ceramic inserts for high threat situations

Torso protection only Extremities protection Extremities: arms, legs, neck Battlefield statistics*
Conflict WWII Korea Somalia Desert Storm Iraqi Freedom % of soldiers with non-fatal injuries (NFI) located on extremities

*Sources: D. Brown. Washington Post. May 4 2003; R. L. Mabry. J. Trauma. v49 n3 2000; F. Reister. Battlefield Casualties and Medical Statistics: U. S. Army Experiences in the Korean War. 1973; M.E. Carey. J. Trauma. v40 n3 1996.

% of soldiers with NFI due to frag / shrapnel

% of NFI due to bullets

PASGT Vest Kevlar 29

70% 71% 75% 64-87% 73%

58% 43% 95% 32%

38% 42% 5% 32%

Currently no armor for extremities Conventional materials (i.e. neat Kevlar) too bulky, stiff Material requirements
Flexible Low bulk Lightweight Minimum protective level: frag / shrapnel protection
Interceptor Vest Kevlar KM2

Shear Thickening Fluid (STF)

Rheology of ethylene glycol based STF 10 10 10
6 5

=0.62 =0.57

(Pa s) viscosity

10 10 10 10

-5

200 nm

10

-1

Liquid phase highly filled with rigid, colloidal particles At high shear rates, hydrodynamic forces overcome repulsive interparticles forces, and hydroclusters form Particles collide, material becomes macroscopically rigid

10

10

-4

10

-3

10

-2

10

-1

(1/s) shear rate

10

10

10

10

10

equilibrium

shear thinning

shear thickening

increasing shear rate

Application to Body Armor

Impregnate Kevlar fabric with shear thickening fluid At low shear rates (normal motion) STF behaves like a liquid High flexibility, little or no impediment to motion At high shear rates (ballistic impact) Relative motion of yarns / fibers within fabric deforms STF at high rate STF transitions to rigid phase, enhances ballistic protection of fabric

STF Kevlar fabric

before impact

during impact

Materials
Shear thickening fluid Colloidal silica particles (avg particle size: ~450 nm or 120 nm) Ethylene glycol (EG) or polyethylene glycol (PEG) carrier fluid
Advantages over water carrier fluid: Wets Kevlar moderately Environmentally stable
200 nm

Final particle concentration: 55-65 vol% Kevlar KM-2 Kevlar fabric Style 706, 600 denier (180 g/m2) Composite preparation Dilute STF with ethanol Wet diluted STF into Kevlar Evaporate ethanol in oven (80C for 20 min)

colloidal silica particles

10 m

STF-impregnated Kevlar fabric

Ballistic Experiments
Targets Impregnate Kevlar with varying amounts, patterns, types of STF Encapsulate impregnated Kevlar in polyethylene film Sandwich target between aluminum foil faces 2x2 in size
mounting frame target adhesive tape

Ballistic tests 0.22 cal FSP Velocity ~ 825 fps Target set in frame, not clamped Clay witness

clay witness

Quantify ballistic performance in terms of depth of penetration Use clay ballistic curves to relate penetration depth to energy absorbed by target

STF Rheological Properties

Shear thickening transition at shear rate of ~ 101-103 s-1
Rheology of ethylene glycol based STF 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10
6

=0.62 =0.57

viscosity (Pa s) (Pa s)

-1

10

-5

10

-4

10

-3

10

-2

10

-1

shear rate (1/s)

10

10 10 (s-1)

10

10

Shear rate during ballistic experiments

projectile velocity 244 m/s 104-105 s-1 = = projectile diameter 0.56 cm

Ballistic impact should transition fluid to rigid state

Effect of STF Impregnation

Impregnation of STF into Kevlar is critical to enhance ballistic performance of neat fabric
20

A
15

Penetration depth (mm)

B
10

C
5

Legend:
single Kevlar layer STF fluid 4 Kevlar layers impregnated with STF fluid
A B C D E F

Target geometry

Effect of Volume of STF

95

Adding more STF increases energy absorption in target Adding neat ethylene glycol (EG) or dry silica powder of equal mass has less effect on energy absorption

90

% Energy dissipated

85

All targets 4 layers of Kevlar, various matrix materials: STF (450 nm EG) STF (120 nm PEG) Dry silica Ethylene glycol

80

75

70

65 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4

2

0.5

0.6

Areal density (g/cm )

Energy Dissipation (%) = Absorbed Energy 100 Initial Impact Energy

Comparison of STF Kevlar with Neat Kevlar

At high fabric loadings, STF-Kevlar composites require lower areal density than comparable neat Kevlar At high fluid loadings, STF-Kevlar composites require fewer Kevlar layers than comparable neat Kevlar
20 layers Kevlar 14 layers Kevlar 8 layers Kevlar 20 layers Kevlar

95

% Energy dissipated

90
4 layers Kevlar

14 layers Kevlar

10 layers Kevlar

85
6 layers Kevlar STF (450 nm EG) in 4 layers Kevlar STF (120 nm PEG) in 4 layers Kevlar STF (120-nm PEG) in N layers Kevlar, v =83% f Neat Kevlar 4 layers Kevlar

80

75 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4

2

0.5

0.6

Areal density (g/cm )

Flexibility / Bulk of STF-Impregnated Kevlar

STF-impregnated Kevlar targets are lighter, thinner and more flexible than neat Kevlar targets with comparable ballistic performance

=50o

=13o =50o

20 g weight
4-layer Kevlar: Thickness: 1.4 mm Weight: 1.9 g Ediss: 76.7%

10-layer Kevlar: Thickness: 3.0 mm Weight: 4.7 g

Ediss: 86.7%

0.25 mL STF (120 nm) impregnated 4-layer Kevlar: Thickness: 1.4 mm Weight: 2.3 g

Ediss: 87.2%

High Velocity Performance

All targets reach critical velocity above which ballistic performance drops off drastically

Velocity (fps) 492 656 820 984 1148 1312

90

Increasing the number of fabric layers increases the high velocity performance STF-Kevlar at high fabric loadings offers superior high velocity performance to neat Kevlar

% Energy dissipated

80

70
STF (30 nm EG-PEG) in 4 layers Kevlar, v = 38% (5.28g)
f

60

STF (30 nm PEG) in 6 layers Kevlar, v = 57% (5.20g)

f

50

STF (120 nm PEG) in 8 layers Kevlar, v = 83% (4.61g) f 7 layers neat Kevlar (3.29g) 11 layers neat Kevlar (5.17g)

40 100

150

200

250

300

350

400

450

Velocity (m/s)

Effect of STF Patterning

95

Compare fully-impregnated Kevlar with pattern-impregnated Kevlar All patterns with 6 layers of Kevlar

90

Energy Dissipation (%)

center
85

edge

stripe

80

Neat Kevlar Full STF + 4 layers Kevlar Full STF + 6 layers Kevlar Center STF + 6 layers Kevlar Edge STF + 6 layers Kevlar Stripe STF + 6 layers Kevlar
0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4
2

Impregnation pattern has little or no quantitative effect on depth of penetration

75 0.0

0.5

0.6

Areal Density (g/cm )

Effect of STF Patterning (contd)

Pattern of STF fundamentally influences the failure pattern / mechanism in target

striped

edge

plain

Mechanism of Ballistic Energy Absorption in STF Composite

Mechanisms of energy absorption in conventional fabric armors Yarn pullout Fiber plastic deformation Fiber fracture Compare impacted targets (4 layers of Kevlar with and without STF) first layer of Kevlar (back three layers show Less pullout in STF composite comparable pullout) More fiber fracture in STF composite unimpregnated Kevlar

STF appears to be grabbing yarns, preventing inter-yarn mobility at high strain rates
2.2

Quasi-static yarn pull-out experiments:

Normalized Pullout Energy

STF PEG

1.8

1.6

1.4

1.2

STF addition increases pull-out energy

first layer of Kevlar (back three layers show little pullout, no fracture)

0.8 0 5 10 15 20 25

STF-impregnated Kevlar
% Liquid Impregnation

Stab Resistance of STF-Kevlar Composite

STF-Kevlar is highly stab resistant Conventional Kevlar fabric is relatively easy to puncture
50 45
STF (450 nm PEG) in Kevlar Neat Kevlar

Penetration depth (mm)

40

35

30

25

20

15 0.05

0.06

0.07

0.08

0.09

0.1

0.11
2

0.12

0.13

Areal density (g/cm )

NIJ Standard-0115.00
3.153 kg weighted knife blade, 24 J impact

neat Kevlar STF-Kevlar

Effect of Particle Anisotropy

Anisotropic CaCO3 particles with aspect ratio of 5:1 Less particle loading required to achieve shear thickening
10
95
3

10
% Energy dissipated
90

= 0.51

(Pa s)
10
1

85

All targets 4 layers of Kevlar, various STF matrices: STF (450 nm EG) STF (120 nm PEG) STF (5:1 anisotropic EG)

10 -2 10

10 . 10 (1/s)

-1

10

80

75 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4

2

0.5

0.6

Areal density (g/cm )

Potential benefits Lower nominal viscosity easier processing and wearability Shear thickening effect without particles approaching closepacking easier to fabricate

Continuing Work
Material and Target Design
Materials STF material
Particle anisotropy Particle size Possibility for enhanced energy absorption mechanisms at very small particle sizes Particle material -> polymeric, rubber particles Lower density particles for reduced target weight Softer particles for modification of energy absorption mechanisms Particle surface energy

Fabric
Denier Weave Fiber type

Architecture
Patterning / STF-to-fabric ratio Layer sequencing

Test configuration Larger target sizes Higher velocities