'Flexible Armor' Technology
fr Liquid Armor, Armored Vehicles, and High-Tech Ballistic
Fiber/Fabric...
New and Future Technology by David Crane
[email protected] ,defensereview.com
,25.07.2006
com
Armor Holdings, Inc. would appear to be on a serious ballistic
armor technology acquisition mission as of late. First, on February
4th of this year (2006), they announced that they are now the
exclusive licensee of shear thickening fluid (STF) technology that
has been developed by the University of Delaware Center for
Composite Materials (UD-CCM) in partnership with the Weapons and
Materials Research Directorate of the U.S. Army Research Laboratory
(ARL). Shear thickening fluid is an application of nanotechnology
that the developers claim can enhance the performance of ballistic
materials (ballistic fiber/fabric, etc.) when STF is incorporated
into it.
In its normal state, STF is soft and fluid-like. However,
when...
As a result, this special material can be applied to conventional
ballistic fabrics or other materials used in armor applications,
allowing them to remain flexible under normal wear, but
simultaneously becoming resistant to penetration when impacted by a
spike, knife or high velocity projectile or fragment. STF treated
fabrics effectively spread the energy over a larger area.