The purpose of the study is to reduce the damage of the soldier boots, which subject the blast load. The boot sole was reinforced to perform the study. Thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) and multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) materials were used for this reinforcement. In addition, TPU 508 material was used as energy absorber, and Carbon-Kevlar fiber composite was utilized to decrease the impact effect of blast load. Acceleration test system was used to simulate the blast load. Three different boots were used in the study (ordinary boot, semi-damped boot, and fully damped boot). Twin-screw extruder was used to blend melted material to prepare polyurethane MWCNT with weight fraction from 1% to 5%. In addition, mechanical properties of these materials were obtained by tensile tests. The best mechanical properties were obtained with the weight fraction of 1% MWCNT. Acceleration test was applied to measure the energy damping performance of new designed boot sole. As a result of the study, the best reduction on the blast load was obtained nearly 12% with the fully damped soldier boot.
Preparation, characterization and properties of polycaprolactone diol-functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotube/thermoplastic polyurethane composite
