ThreepMe
Morcilla
   
   
    
  
 
Since: 15.2.02
From: Dallas
Since last post: 3183 days
Last activity: 2842 days
|  #1 Posted on 29.4.04 1552.38 | Instant Rating: 4.19 | Well, if this isn't one of the coolest things ever...
http://story.news.yahoo.com/ news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/ 20040429/ap_on_sc/hi_tech_body_armor_1
Scientists Working on Flexible Armor
Thu Apr 29,11:03 AM ET Add Science - AP
By BRIAN WITTE, Associated Press Writer
BALTIMORE - Army scientists are working on a liquid body armor for clothing that stays flexible during normal use but can harden to stop a projectile when hit suddenly.
Researchers hope the liquid could be used in sleeves and pants, areas not protected by ballistic vests because they must stay flexible.
The liquid, hard particles suspended in a fluid, is soaked into layers of Kevlar, which holds it in place. Scientists recently had an archer shoot arrows at it to see how well the liquid boosted the strength of a Kevlar vest.
"Instead of the arrow going through the Kevlar, it is completely stopped by the Kevlar vest and sometimes just bounces right off," said Norman Wagner, a University of Delaware chemical engineering professor who is working on the project.
Vests treated with the liquid have also blocked stabs from an ice pick, and researchers are doing more tests to see if it can stop bullets or shrapnel, too.
The project, which has been under way for about three years, is a joint venture between the U.S. Army Research Laboratory and the University of Delaware's Center for Composite Materials.
Eric Wetzel, a mechanical engineer who heads the project team for the Army lab, said a "shear thickening fluid" is a key component of the liquid armor. Hard particles are suspended in the liquid, polyethylene glycol. At low strain rates, the particles flow with the fluid, enabling clothing to stay flexible. But when heavily strained, the particles become rigid.
"If it's impacted suddenly by a projectile or a knife, say, it rigidifies and somehow restricts the ability of the fabric to move," Wetzel said.
The transition happens very quickly, a millisecond or quicker.
Wetzel and Wagner are optimistic the liquid body armor will be useful to local police and prison guards and perhaps it could one day protect people in automobile and airplane crashes.
"Are you kidding me? A soda with MY name on it? Now more than ever, SODAS RULE!" - Edge to Christian Smackdown Sept 7th 2000| Promote this thread! |           | estragand
Summer sausage
Since: 18.6.02
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| #2 Posted on 29.4.04 1637.10 | Instant Rating: 6.00 | Heh! Sounds kinda like Reed Richards' "unstable molecules".
-ES
Visit ES online- it's "Internet Entertainment"! | The Thrill
Banger
Since: 16.4.02
From: Green Bay, WI
Since last post: 2 days
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| #3 Posted on 30.4.04 0758.20 | Instant Rating: 4.25 | 
Dear God, please let this work. The sooner we can deploy it with our military, the better. Man, I'm pulling for the science geeks on this one.
Star wipe, and...we're out.
Thrillin' ain't easy.
THE THRILL
ACW-NWA Wisconsin Home Video Technical Director...& A2NWO 4 Life!
(Click the big G or here to hear the Packers Fight Song in RealAudio...or try .AU, .WAV or .MIDI!)
| samoflange
Lap cheong
Since: 22.2.04
From: Cambridge, MA
Since last post: 3 hours
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| #4 Posted on 30.4.04 0818.58 | Instant Rating: 2.41 | That... is... absolutely amazing. We are now officially one stop closer to "the future."
I just hope the technology behind it is kept very confidential, and there is no hope of any crazy sons of bitches getting there hands on it. Can you imagine some lunatic going on a rampage and the police not being able to bring him down due to full body armor. Gotta be careful with this stuff.
Lloyd: When I met Mary, I got that old fashioned romantic feeling, where I'd do anything to bone her.
Harry: That's a special feeling. | ThreepMe
Morcilla
Since: 15.2.02
From: Dallas
Since last post: 3183 days
Last activity: 2842 days
| #5 Posted on 30.4.04 0854.53 | Instant Rating: 4.19 | Originally posted by samoflange
That... is... absolutely amazing. We are now officially one stop closer to "the future."
I just hope the technology behind it is kept very confidential, and there is no hope of any crazy sons of bitches getting there hands on it. Can you imagine some lunatic going on a rampage and the police not being able to bring him down due to full body armor. Gotta be careful with this stuff.
Then the police will have to use techniques that incapacitate, not kill or maim.
Maybe a round that knocks people know as opposed to going through or into them. Maybe something that will open up upon contact with body armor and has enough velocity to knock down a 400 lbs man.
Maybe that foam from Demolition Man that solidified. Just spray (or even in grenade form) and allow to dry. Then you can hang them on your wall like they were Han Solo.
Nets still work pretty good.
Then again, Japan just came out with a running robot. Maybe we can use drones.
"Are you kidding me? A soda with MY name on it? Now more than ever, SODAS RULE!" - Edge to Christian Smackdown Sept 7th 2000 | Lexus
Lap cheong
Since: 2.1.02
From: Stafford, VA
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| #6 Posted on 30.4.04 1110.04 | Instant Rating: 5.76 | While the projectiles may not peirce the armor, the force they carry does get exerted upon the body. Thus, an average sized man clad in armor could still be taken down with conventional firearms (a bullet to the knees with that stuff on would be more potent than a baseball bat, I would imagine). Any ballistics experts out there to refute what I'm saying?
Furthermore, it says hit suddenly, which leads me to think that this stuff is reactionary to sudden trauma, even resisting stabs from an icepick. However, what would happen if I were to take a blade and not stab, but slice at the material lined with it? I know the conceivability to this happening in combat is nill, but I'm just curious.
(edited by Lexus on 30.4.04 1211)
Kane's vie for a YJ Stinger commercial goes awry | samoflange
Lap cheong
Since: 22.2.04
From: Cambridge, MA
Since last post: 3 hours
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| #7 Posted on 30.4.04 1137.19 | Instant Rating: 2.45 | Originally posted by Lexus
Furthermore, it says hit suddenly, which leads me to think that this stuff is reactionary to sudden trauma, even resisting stabs from an icepick. However, what would happen if I were to take a blade and not stab, but slice at the material lined with it? I know the conceivability to this happening in combat is nill, but I'm just curious.
(edited by Lexus on 30.4.04 1211)
I would think that the material could be sliced through. The materal hardens when subjected to considerable shear stress. Shear stress is a product of shear rate and viscosity. A slow slice would cause a low shear rate, thus low shear stress, and the material would not harden up.
Could be wrong though, I'm a year removed from fluid dynamics class.
Lloyd: When I met Mary, I got that old fashioned romantic feeling, where I'd do anything to bone her.
Harry: That's a special feeling. | anibanging
Italian
Since: 5.3.02
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|  #8 Posted on 30.4.04 1206.07 | Instant Rating: 7.15 | Originally posted by samoflange
Originally posted by Lexus
Furthermore, it says hit suddenly, which leads me to think that this stuff is reactionary to sudden trauma, even resisting stabs from an icepick. However, what would happen if I were to take a blade and not stab, but slice at the material lined with it? I know the conceivability to this happening in combat is nill, but I'm just curious.
(edited by Lexus on 30.4.04 1211)
I would think that the material could be sliced through. The materal hardens when subjected to considerable shear stress. Shear stress is a product of shear rate and viscosity. A slow slice would cause a low shear rate, thus low shear stress, and the material would not harden up.
Could be wrong though, I'm a year removed from fluid dynamics class.
Probably all true, but if I remember my kevlar facts properly, you ain't gonna be slicing through that with a knife anytime soon. | samoflange
Lap cheong
Since: 22.2.04
From: Cambridge, MA
Since last post: 3 hours
Last activity: 3 min.
| #9 Posted on 30.4.04 1210.23 | Instant Rating: 2.45 | Originally posted by anibanging
Probably all true, but if I remember my kevlar facts properly, you ain't gonna be slicing through that with a knife anytime soon.
I knew I was missing something. Touché.
Lloyd: When I met Mary, I got that old fashioned romantic feeling, where I'd do anything to bone her.
Harry: That's a special feeling. |
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