An investigation on composite laminates including shear thickening fluid under stab condition

Shear thickening fluids have been extensively utilized in composite laminate structures to enhance the impact resistance in the last decade. Despite the contribution of shear thickening fluids to the protective systems, the mechanism behind the energy absorption behavior of shear thickening fluids is not fully understood. In the present study, various configurations of composite laminates were prepared and these structures were investigated under low velocity stab conditions. Contrary to the common idea of shear thickening fluid impregnation for fabrics, shear thickening fluids were used in bulk form and by means of this, pure contribution of shear thickening behavior to the energy absorption was investigated. To hold the bulk shear thickening fluids in the composite laminates, Lantor Soric SF honeycomb layers were filled with shear thickening fluids and Twaron fabrics were plied in the structures as the reinforcement. As a result of this study, it is stated that shear thickening behavior is insufficient to effectively improve the energy absorption performance of composite laminates; however, shear thickening fluids are beneficial to fabric based composites because the inter-yarn friction of fabrics is enhanced using shear thickening fluids as an impregnation agent rather than a bulk form.