DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER
ROCHESTER, NEW YORK

Impact Resistance of Shear Thickening

Fluids

Group 2:
Lee Reis
William Archambault
Rachel Sommer
April 29, 2009
ME 241 - Fluid and Thermal Systems Laboratory
Final Report

Abstract: Our work analyzed the ballistic impact resistance of two shear thickening fluids at
different packing fractions: glycerin with glass bubbles, and water with corn starch. Impact
resistance was characterized by energy loss when the projectile passed through the fluid. We
used photo gates to determine initial energy of the projectile, and found a relationship between
energy and penetration depth into a clay witness to measure impact energy. Higher packing
fractions in our results corresponded to lower impact resistance, so we believe that for improved
ballistic resistance in bulletproof vests a fabric is necessary to effectively transmit shear forces to
the fluid.

Introduction and Motivation

Certain non-Newtonian fluids exist which exhibit increasing viscosities at increasing
shear rates. These fluids are known as shear-thickening fluids (STF). Some shear-thickening
fluids are made up of colloidal suspensions, a fluid in which one substance is evenly distributed
throughout the other. The colloids, or the particles suspended in the fluid, are on the order of
nanometers to micrometers. The fluids concentration can be characterized by its volumetric
packing fraction, or the volume of colloids relative to the volume of suspension fluid in the
colloidal suspension.
Shear-thickening in colloidal suspensions occurs at relatively high packing fractions and
high shear rates. During high shear rates, the colloids in the suspension become bound together
by hydrodynamic lubrication forces, forming what are called hydroclusters (Lee & Wagner,
2003). These hydroclusters create a microscopic network of much more rigid particles in the
suspension, leading to a macroscopic increase in the stiffness of the fluid (Wetzel et al., 2004).
In order to create a bullet-proof fabric that is just as strong as current vests but more
flexible, researchers are impregnating layers of bullet-resistant fabric with shear-thickening fluid.
The shear-thickening fluid stiffens upon ballistic impact, combining with the bullet-resistant
fabric to absorb the energy of the projectile. Research in this area has been highly effective, with
STF-impregnated fabrics consistently outperforming their non-impregnated counterparts in
impact resistance tests (Decker et al., 2007; Egres et al., 2004; Lee et al., 2002; Rosen et al.,
2007; Tan et al., 2005; Wetzel et al., 2004; Young et al., 2003). In addition, the STFimpregnated [fabric] is significantly thinner, and less bulky, than the [non-impregnated fabric] of
equivalent weight and ballistic performance (Lee et al., 2002). Thus, shear-thickening fluid can

be used in conjunction with bullet-resistant fabric to produce more flexible but equally protective
body armor.
The shear-thickening of the fluid suspension in the bullet-resistant fabric is thought to be
triggered by the shear rates of the threads of the fabric. Once the shear-thickening is triggered,
the amount of force required to penetrate the threads of the fabric increases, resulting in a better
performance of the fabric (Lee et al., 2002). However, colloidal suspensions are known to
thicken at high shear rates without the presence of fabric threads. In initial experimentation we
have seen that the shear-thickening fluid itself is capable of impact resistance. In the course of
this experiment, we worked to understand and quantify the behavior of the colloidal suspension
alone to ballistic impact, in order to better understand the effectiveness of the STF-impregnated
bullet-resistant fabrics.

Experiment Formulation and Procedure

We purchased a Daisy 901 Air Rifle to use as our firing mechanism and used BBs, each
with an approximate mass of 0.348 g and diameter of 0.450 cm, as projectiles. The air rifle had a
built-in pump and the pressure chamber could withstand a maximum of ten pumps, resulting in a
theoretical maximum velocity of 228.6 m/s (750 ft/s). We set up an apparatus for our air rifle
that fired projectiles vertically downward into a tank of the fluid suspension (Figure 1). The air
rifle was mounted to a stepladder by clamping it in two places, and we aimed the air rifle using a
plumb bob and a level. We wired two infrared photo gates and attached them to an SCB 68, then
positioned them at the top of the tank by drilling two pairs of holes 5 cm apart at the top section
of the tank (Figure 2). The SCB 68 was the power source for the photo gates, and we set a data
recording rate of 100 kHz in our LabVIEW VI (Figure A1, Appendix A). When the projectile
passed through a photo gate the infrared beam was broken and the VI recorded a spike in

voltage. We measured the time between the two spikes and divided 5 cm by this time to obtain
the speed of our projectiles. Since we knew the initial velocity and the mass of the projectile, we
could calculate the kinetic energy before impact.

Air Rifle

Tank with velocity

gates

STF with clay

witness

Figure 2 - Close-up of infrared LED

velocity gates on the tank, showing the 5 cm
distance between the top and bottom gates.

Figure 1 - Experimental set-up: air rifle

firing vertically into tank with velocity gates,
fluid, and clay witness.

Our STF samples were opaque, so we were unable to use a high-speed camera to observe
the velocity of the projectile after impact. Instead, we used what is known as a clay witness, a
block of clay at the bottom of the tank, to find the kinetic energy after the projectile passed
through the fluid. We performed a calibration experiment where we correlated penetration depth
into a clay witness to initial velocity when there was no intermediate fluid except air. We used
Van Aken Plastilina modeling clay (NIJ standard-0101.04) for our witness, since this relatively
firm oil based clay that does not harden or absorb liquids under normal conditions. When we
added fluid we took the measured penetration depth and calculated the impact energy when the
projectile reached the clay, which would be final kinetic energy. Given this final energy and the

initial kinetic energy from photo gate measurements, we could calculate the percentage of energy
loss, which we used to characterize impact resistance.
For testing, we covered our clay witness with 2 cm of STF and went through a series of
shots by pumping the air rifle between five and ten times. Our first shear thickening fluid used
iM30k glass bubbles made by 3M as the colloids and glycerin as the liquid. The bubbles have an
average diameter of 18 m, which is consistent with the scale of particles in a colloidal
suspension. We chose to use glycerin because it is relatively inert and therefore easy to handle.
Additionally, these two materials were used together in previous work so they were both
immediately available in the laboratory. We tested pure glycerin and 50%, 60%, and 66.67%
volumetric packing fractions of glycerin and glass bubbles. Then to compare our results with
another known STF, we tested corn starch and water, also known as oobleck, at a 66.67%
packing fraction and contrasted that with pure water.

Results
Our calibration (Figure 3) gave us the following relationship
L(T) = 2.4279 T

(1)

where T (J) is the kinetic energy of the projectile before it entered the clay witness, and L is in
millimeters. The inverse of this equation, or
T(L) = 0.4119 L

(2)

was used in our calculations, and this equation has an rms error of 0.0929 J. The results for each
STF are shown in Appendix A2(a-e). All glycerin with glass bubble packing fractions are shown
separately, but water and oobleck have been shown together for comparison. Notice that both
categories of STF demonstrate lower impact resistance than the pure fluids before colloids are
added, and the highest packing fraction of glass bubbles has a noticeably lower impact resistance

than the other samples. Another point worth mentioning is the potential variation in initial
kinetic energy as shown on the graphs. This is due to the chosen sampling rate for the tests of
100 kHz, and at higher velocities the time between voltage peaks was as small as 24010 s.

20.00

Penetration Depth (mm)

18.00

y = 2.4279x

16.00
14.00
12.00
10.00
8.00
6.00
4.00
2.00
0.00
0

10

Kinetic Energy (J)

Figure 3 Results from calibration experiment with interpolation equation shown.

Discussion
Our calibration curve was a promising early result, since previous research (Lee et al.
2002) found a linear relationship between impact energy and penetration depth into clay.
Therefore we were confident that our penetration depths gave us accurate measurements of
projectile energy when it reached the clay. However, the results from our testing of the fluids
raised questions on the behavior of standalone STF samples, since they indicated that higher
packing fractions of colloids created a lower impact resistance. After we had tested mixtures of
glycerin and glass bubbles, our initial concern was that we had not reached the shear- thickening
6

point in our fluids, either through high enough packing fractions or shear rate. Other STFs for
ballistics research have been created at volumetric packing fractions between 55 and 65% (Lee et
al. 2002), and the maximum possible packing fraction for perfect spheres is about 74% (Sphere
Packing 2009) so we eliminated packing fractions as the cause for our anomalous results. The
shear rates from our projectile were on the order of 40,000 1/s for our tests

& =

vx
180
=
= 40,000
y 0.0045

(3)

where & is the shear rate, vx is the projectile velocity, and y is the projectile diameter, and this is
also similar to Lee et al. 2002. We did not have sufficient time to use a viscometer, which would
have given us higher confidence that we were reaching shear-thickening behavior, so for
comparison we tested oobleck and compared it to pure water. To eliminate the need for photo
gates in these tests we correlated the number of air rifle pumps (P) to initial kinetic energy (KE),
and this equation had an rms error of 0.0722 J:
KE(P) = 2.5641 * P 0.4648

(4)

As shown in Figure A2(e), pure water has a higher impact resistance than oobleck for all energy
levels. Therefore, this impact resistance behavior is common to at least these two STFs, and we
began to look for evidence of these results in other work.
The research mentioned above looked at various configurations of four layers of Kevlar
and 8 ml of STF. They found that among these samples, the best energy absorption is obtained
when all of the STF is placed below the fabric, instead of on top or alternating. Furthermore,
fabric impregnation is essential to realizing enhanced performance, and impregnated samples
demonstrated the highest level of impact resistance (Lee et al. 2002). Our work confirms this
assertion, and shows in fact that independently, STF ballistics resistance may be inversely related

to the packing fraction of colloids. We could not test for the mechanisms that might promote
this, but one possibility is a reduction in hydrocluster yield stress with higher packing fractions.
In other words, the more viscous area near the projectile due to shear forces could have a certain
yield stress, and beyond this stress the fluid would crack. This theory is motivated by the
observation that a mass of oobleck can shatter if it is thrown against a surface with sufficient
force. Since the liquids used in the STFs cannot shatter, the pure liquids would in fact slow the
projectile more before it reached the witness. However this would have to be tested through
future research, so our primary finding is that STFs do not provide improved impact resistance
without fabric.

Conclusions and Future Work

We related the penetration depth of a BB projectile to penetration depth in a clay witness, and
used this to characterize impact resistance of shear-thickening fluids at a range of packing
fractions. These suspensions were observed to have a lower impact resistance at higher packing
fractions, and all samples had lower resistances than the pure suspension liquid. The novel
results of this research leave several avenues to be explored by future work. The wide potential
error in initial kinetic energy could be reduced by increasing the sampling rate of the SCB 68.
Also, fluid containment was problematic, so that for many shots a small amount of fluid would
leave the tank. If this experiment is repeated a thin penetrable barrier may solve this issue
without reducing kinetic energy by an appreciable amount. Perhaps most importantly, research
into the mechanism of reduced impact resistance with higher packing fractions could lead to a
valuable understanding of the properties and behaviors of shear-thickening fluids.

References
Decker, M.J., Halbach, C.J., Nam, C.H., Wagner, N.J. & Wetzel, E.D. 2007 Stab resistance of
shear thickening fluid (STF)-treated fabrics Composites Science and Technology 67
565-578.
Egres, R.G., Jr., Lee, Y.S., Kirkwood, J.E., Kirkwood, K.M., Wetzel, E.D. & Wagner, N.J.
Liquid armor: Protective fabrics utilizing shear thickening fluids in Proceedings of
the 4th International Conference on Safety and Protective Fabrics, (Pittsburgh, PA,
October 26-27, 2004).
Gans, R.F. personal communication
Lee, Y.S. & Wagner, N.J. 2003 Dynamic properties of shear thickening colloidal suspensions
Rheologica Acta 42 199-208.
Lee, Y.S., Wetzel, E.D., Egres, R.G., Jr. & Wagner, N.J. 2003 The ballistic impact
characteristics of Kevlar woven fabrics impregnated with a colloidal shear thickening
fluid in Journal of Materials Science 38 2825 2833.
Lee, Y.S., Wetzel, E.D., Egres, R.G., Jr. & Wagner, N.J. Advanced Body Armor Utilizing
Shear Thickening Fluids in Proceedings of the 23rd Army Science Conference, (Orlando,
FL, December 2-5, 2002).
NIJ standard-0101.04, Ballistic Resistance of Personal Body Armor, 2001.
Rosen, B.A., Nam Laufer, C.H., Kalman, D.P., Wetzel, E.D. & Wagner, N.J. Multi-threat
Performance of Kaolin-Based Shear Thickening Fluid (STF)-Treated Fabrics in
Proceedings of SAMPE, (Baltimore, MD, June 3-7, 2007).
Russell, R.S. personal communication
"Sphere packing." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 22 Apr 2009, 29 Apr 2009
<http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sphere_packing&oldid=285538342>.
Tan, V.B.C., Tay, T.E. & Teo, W.K. 2005 Strengthening fabric armor with silica colloidal
suspensions International Journal of Solids and Structures 42 1561-1576.
Tyo, A., Brown, N. & Hamlin, N. 2008 Characterizing the Continuum Mechanics of
Suspensions.

Wetzel, E.D., Lee, Y.S., Egres, R.G., Kirkwood, K.M., Kirkwood, J.E. & Wagner, N.J. 2004
The Effect of Rheological Parameters on the Ballistic Properties of Shear Thickening
Fluid (STF)-Kevlar Composites in Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on
Numerical Methods in Industrial Forming Processes, (Columbus, OH, June 13-17,
2004).
Young, S.L., Wetzel, E.D. & Wagner, N.J. 2003 The ballistic impact characteristics of Kevlar
woven fabrics impregnated with a colloidal shear thickening fluid Journal of Materials
Science 38 2825-2833.

APPENDIX A

Figure A1 LabVIEW VI for our experiment

10

40%

Energy Dissipation

Energy Dissipation

40%
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%

30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%

0%
4.00

5.00

6.00

7.00

8.00

0%
4.00

9.00

Initial Kinetic Energy (J)

(a)

40%

35%

35%

Energy Dissipation

40%

30%
25%
20%
15%
10%

0%
4.00

5.00

6.00

7.00

Initial Kinetic Energy (J)

(b)

8.00

9.00

30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%

5%

5.00

6.00

7.00

Initial Kinetic Energy (J)

(c)

8.00

0%
4.00

9.00

5.00

6.00

7.00

8.00

Initial Kinetic Energy (J)

(d)

40%
35%

Energy Dissipation

Energy Dissipation

35%

30%
25%

Pure
Water
Oobleck

20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
4.00

5.00

6.00

7.00

8.00

9.00

Initial Kinetic Energy (J)

(e)

Figure A2 (a-e) - Impact resistance tests for fluids: pure glycerin (a), 50% packing fraction
glass beads in glycerin (b), 60% packing (c), 66.67% packing (d), water and oobleck (e).
11

9.00