A new class of Shear Thickening Fluids (STF) is incorporated aramid fibers. TheSTF is a combination of nanosilica and calcium carbonate nanocrystals, combinedwith polyethylene glycol. The STF assimilation process into aramid fibers has beenaccomplished through a combination of ultrasonic dispersion and airbrush, especiallydeveloped for this study. Two types of ammunition were considered, i.e. 9mm FullMetal Jacket (FMJ) and .357 Magnum Jacketed Soft Point (JSP). The resultsdemonstrated an enhancement close to 25% in ballistic penetration resistance, duecombined performance of aramid fabrics impregnated with STF and the epoxy system.Furthermore, considering only the addition of STF to the aramid fabrics through theimproved dispersion technique, an increase on performance close to 41% in ballisticperformance was achieved. A normalized equation was proposed, which allows acomparative study between the effect of using non Newtonian fluids and the chestcavity trauma made by high speed projectiles.
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