Enhancement of the quasi-static stab resistance of Kevlar fabrics impregnated with shear thickening

Stronger and lighter stab resistance materials are always among the relentless pursuits of scientists and engineers. This study presents a featured perspective on investigating the influence of distribution and quantity of shear thickening fluid (STF) on the stab resistance performance and weight of STF/Kevlar (SK) fabrics. A series of tests confirmed that the peak stab resistance force was 515.48 N (+/- 18.62) because of the uniform distribution of SiO2 nanoparticles in Kevlar fabrics, behaving 2.07 fold than that of the neat Kevlar (NK) fabrics, and the weight gain rate was only 17.1% (+/- 0.56) under the optimal technology condition, almost displaying the theoretical values. Moreover, the added STF had a negligible influence on flexibility of NK fabric. The pull-out test demonstrated that the high inter-yarn friction of SK fabric could strengthen the resistance relative motion of yarns so that more surrounding yarns participated in the impact energy dissipation and maximized the role of high-performance fabric Kevlar. (C)& nbsp;2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.& nbsp;

Automated summary

This study investigates the influence of distribution and quantity of shear thickening fluid (STF) on the stab resistance performance and weight of STF/Kevlar (SK) fabrics. The tests show that uniform distribution of SiO2 nanoparticles in Kevlar fabrics significantly improves stab resistance force and weight gain. Additionally, the added STF has minimal impact on fabric flexibility, and the high inter-yarn friction of SK fabric enhances yarns' resistance to relative motion, maximizing the impact energy dissipation.