The liquid technology can improve both the performance and the utility of Kevlar fabric. Once the force from the impact dissipates, the bonds weaken again. The shock of an impact strengthens those chemical bonds and the particles lock into place. Under normal conditions, the particles are weakly bonded to each other and can move around with ease. An example of a fluid under research is ethylene glycol containing suspended nano-particles of silica. Shear-thickening fluids increase their viscosity in response to changes in pressure. Shear-thickening fluid is an example of a "smart material," a class of materials that can sense and respond to changes in the environment, for example through the application of electricity or magnetism, or to changes in temperature. A great deal of largely US-military-funded research has taken place over the last few years into combining Kevlar fabric with a shear-thickening fluid.
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