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Dynamic Behavior of Materials, Volume 1 pp 125–133Cite as

Challenges for Implementing Polymer Gels in Defense Applications

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Abstract

Polymer gels are soft, lightly crosslinked polymers that are highly swollen with solvent. The gel properties can be tuned by manipulating the polymer and solvent chemistry, solvent loading, polymer and solvent chain architecture, and the incorporation of various fillers and additives. This tunability provides broad utility in military applications including electronic devices, sensors, robotics, multi-functional textiles, responsive coatings, combat medical care, and tissue surrogates for ballistic testing. While potentially useful, a number of challenges can hinder gel utility for the Army. This paper describes recent efforts that offer promise to overcome these obstacles, including improving operational temperature performance and gel toughness.

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Acknowledgements

K. Otim was funded by the U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL) and the National Physical Sciences Consortium Fellowship program. R. A. Mrozek was funded at ARL through a contract with the Oak Ridge Institute of Science and Engineering (ORISE). Certain commercial equipment and materials are identified in this paper in order to specify adequately the experimental procedure. In no case does such identification imply recommendations by the Army Research Laboratory nor does it imply that the material or equipment identified is necessarily the best available for this purpose.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. US Army Research Laboratory, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Aberdeen, MD, 21005, USA

    Joseph L. Lenhart & Randy A. Mrozek

  2. Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, 60208, USA

    Kenneth R. Shull & Kathryn J. Otim

Authors
  1. Joseph L. Lenhart
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  2. Randy A. Mrozek
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  3. Kenneth R. Shull
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  4. Kathryn J. Otim
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Joseph L. Lenhart .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. North Dartmouth, 02747-2300, USA

    Vijay Chalivendra

  2. , Department of Mechanics of Materials, Sandia National Laboratories, East Avenue 7011, Livermore, 94551-0969, California, USA

    Bo Song

  3. U.S. Army Research Laboratory, Aberdeen Proving Ground, 94551-8227, USA

    Daniel Casem

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© 2013 The Society for Experimental Mechanics, Inc.

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Lenhart, J.L., Mrozek, R.A., Shull, K.R., Otim, K.J. (2013). Challenges for Implementing Polymer Gels in Defense Applications. In: Chalivendra, V., Song, B., Casem, D. (eds) Dynamic Behavior of Materials, Volume 1. Conference Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Mechanics Series. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-4238-7_16

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-4238-7_16

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-4237-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-4238-7

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