Soft tissue damage to the brain and abdominal organs can be difficult to examine in human surrogate test devices which could be exposed to blast, ballistic, blunt impact, and other loading conditions. Thus, there is a need to determine novel methods to quantify potential tissue damage. Spiropyran (SP) molecules have demonstrated the ability to change color within the visible light spectrum in response to mechanical stimulus when incorporated in a thin film form factor. The current study aims to examine the color-changing properties of SP molecules incorporated in a silicone gelatin to simulate soft tissue organs subjected to a high-rate projectile impact. Two mixing ratios of the gelatin material and two impact velocities were tested. An algorithm was developed to quantify the color change due to impact. While both mixing ratios resulted in color change at both velocities, the color change was much more observable at the higher impact velocity. Initial results indicate the softer gelatin provided better optical clarity, and therefore, ease of analyzing the color change. A computational model of the impact scenario was developed to further optimize the material properties with the intended color change. These results indicate a promising material and accompanying computational model that can be used to quantify soft tissue damage in surrogate systems.

Impact sensing elastomer gels

256th National Meeting (2018)

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