Magnetorheological Damping of Fragment Barrier Suspension Systems

Abstract

Magnetorheological (MR) fluids, well established as components of a variety of suspension systems, may offer opportunities to improve the performance of fabric ballistic protection systems, which typically do not incorporate significant energy dissipation mechanisms. A series of ballistic impact experiments has been conducted to investigate the potential of MR fluid damped fabric suspension systems to improve upon current fabric barrier designs. The results indicate that for the simple fabric suspension systems tested, MR fluid damping does not improve upon the very high weight specific ballistic performance of state of the art aramid fibers.