Shock wave mitigation and impact resistance response of kevlar fabric with novel shear-stiffening gel core

A novel shear thickening gel with micro-scale hard/soft interface structure and low reaction temperature was proposed in this article. The gel was named TH and used as core material within Kevlar fabrics. Storage modulus of TH was proved to increase by around two orders with increasing of shear frequency, and dynamic properties indicated that TH could dissipate or store more energy. TH can adhere with Kevlar fabrics well and satisfactorily fulfill the gap between fabrics. As a result, shock wave peak pressure and positive impulse decreased markedly. Wavelet decomposition analysis show that high frequency energy was filtered by protection materials. Meanwhile, impact resistance test suggested the existence of TH changed the stress propagation routes and avoided pulling out for Kevlar fabrics. Samples filled with TH demonstrated a better shock wave mitigation ability and impact resistance. Energy dissipation structures with TH have a promising prospect in the application of defending area.(c) 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Automated summary

A novel shear thickening gel with micro-scale hard/soft interface structure and low reaction temperature, named TH, was proposed. The gel showed increased storage modulus with increasing shear frequency, indicating its ability to dissipate or store more energy. TH demonstrated good adhesion with Kevlar fabrics and effectively filled the gap between fabrics. The presence of TH changed the stress propagation routes and improved the impact resistance of Kevlar fabrics.