Complex Fluids in Energy Dissipating Systems

The development of engineered systems for energy dissipation (or absorption) during impacts or vibrations is an increasing need in our society, mainly for human protection applications, but also for ensuring the right performance of different sort of devices, facilities or installations. In the last decade, new energy dissipating composites based on the use of certain complex fluids have flourished, due to their non-linear relationship between stress and strain rate depending on the flow/field configuration. This manuscript intends to review the different approaches reported in the literature, analyses the fundamental physics behind them and assess their pros and cons from the perspective of their practical applications.