Ballistic Impact of Dense Particle Suspensions

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.