The effect of silicon carbide additives on the stab resistance of shear thickening fluid treated fabrics

Applications of shear thickening fluids (STFs) with ballistic fabrics improve the protection performance of body protective systems. This article presents an innovative view of STF-impregnated ballistic fabrics by integrating silicon carbide (SiC) particles into targets. In this study, SiC particles were added into silica-based STFs, and Twaron fabrics were impregnated with this novel suspension. The effect of the SiC particles in the STFs was investigated with rheological testing. The results show that SiC particles are able to increase the viscosity profile of the suspension. In the stab testing, two types of impactors, such as spikes and knives, were dropped on the composite targets. According to the results, SiC particles enhance the protection performance of the STF-treated ballistic fabrics while keeping the flexibility.