Ballistic Impact of Dense Particle Suspensions

TL;DR

This study investigates how dense particle suspensions respond to ballistic impacts, revealing that shear thickening dominates at low velocities while density influences behavior at higher velocities, informing protective material design.

Contribution

It provides experimental insights into the dynamic response of dense suspensions under ballistic impact, highlighting the velocity-dependent effects of shear thickening and density.

Findings

Shear thickening dominates at low impact velocities.

Responses converge based on density at high velocities.

High-speed videos analyzed the fluid behavior during impact.

Abstract

The ballistic impact of various dense particle suspensions is of interest for the development of superior materials for personal protective equipment. The dynamic response of the fluids under impact of a fragment simulating projectile at various incident velocities was examined for this purpose. High-speed fluid dynamic videos of these ballistic impacts were used to analyze the effects of various suspension parameters on the response of the fluids. It was found experimentally that the shear thickening behaviour of the suspensions dominated the response at low incident velocities, but the results converge based on density at higher impact velocities.