Enhancement of Impact Resistance and Shock Wave Protection in Strain Rate-Reinforced Leather Composite

Abstract

This work develops the Leather/SSG composite with a laminated structure that consists of flexible leather and rate-dependent shear stiffening gel (SSG), which exhibits superior impact resistance and shock wave protection performance. The SSG is tightly bound to the leather fiber network through hydrogen bonding interactions between the interfaces. Owing to the phase change energy absorption effect of SSG and the synergizing impact force dispersion along the disordered fibers, the Leather/SSG can effectively alleviate the impact force (52%) and shows high energy absorption (0.86–0.95). Besides, Leather/SSG exhibits strain rate enhancement effects with high strain rate impact and it can effectively dissipate stress wave energy by blocking the transmission of stress waves. Moreover, due to the interface structure of soft–hard transition, the Leather/SSG effectively reduces shock wave pressure and positive impulse under the explosive loading. Simultaneously, the influence of impact sequence in Leather/SSG on impact resistance and shock wave absorption is analyzed, confirming the advantage of the leather fiber side being impacted first. These results can provide an important theoretical basis and experimental reference for designing soft/hard impact-resistant composite structures.