• Journal of Applied Reliability
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.270-275
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• 2015

Purpose : UHMWPE (Ultra-high-molecular-weight-polyethylene) is one of the most widely used material in knife protection clothes because of high strength, elasticity, and light weight. The purpose of this study is to develop the accelerated life test method and predict the lifetime for the knife protection fabric composed by UHMWPE. Methods : In this study, degradation characteristics of UHMWPE fibers and knife protection fabric for cut resistance were evaluated under the hydrolysis and photo-degradation conditions. It was found out that the degradation rate of retained tensile strength was more significant in the photo-degradation than hydrolysis. Therefore, the failure time was determined as the time that the retained tensile strength in photo-degradation is less than 50%. Considering an acceleration factor for irradiance and exposure time, the lifetime was predicted from the calculated failure time. Results : As a result of the accelerated life test, the $B_{10}$ lifetime of knife protection fabric composed by UHMWPE fibers is estimated as 2.8 years for a 90% statistical confidence level. Conclusion: Since the lifetime is predicted by the view-point of radiant exposure in this study, there is a possibility that the estimated lifetime may differ from the actual lifetime. However, it is considered as an useful methodology to estimate the long-term lifetime of knife protection fabrics.

• Composites Research
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.23-30
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• 2008

Stab threats using sharp edged or pointed Instruments could be easily encountered by police officers or soldiers. In this study, the shear thickening fluids (STF) was impregnated into Kevlar fabrics to improve the stab protection and the resistance of STF impregnated Kevlar fabrics was experimentally investigated. The puncture and cut resistance were tested using a drop test machine withspike and knife indenters fabricated based on the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) standard. The STF was filled with spherical $SiO_2$ particles having an average diameter of 100nm, 300nm, and 500nm. The effect of particle size on puncture and cut resistance of STF impregnated Kevlar fabrics was also investigated. The measured impact load histories showed that STF impregnation into fabric leads to withstand higher peak loads than that of neat fabrics under spike test. The test results showed that Kevlar impregnated with STF exhibit remarkable improvements in puncture resistance while it is slightly influential on the cut resistance. Specifically, particle size is the one of the dominant factors controlling fabric resistance to puncture under spike impact test.