Dunno if this is old news or what but:
New Body Armor Technology
Now comes word of several new developments in body armor, such as Aberdeen Proving Ground developing new "liquid" body armor for the Military. The key component of the new technology is Shear Thickening Fluid (STF). Comprised of hard nano–particles of silica suspended in liquid polyethylene glycol, STF is non–toxic and can withstand a wide variance in temperatures. The combination produces a system of flowable hard parts with unique properties. In normal use the material is very deformable, but when struck it becomes extremely rigid. The STF is soaked into all layers of Kevlar, which holds it in place and also helps stop the projectiles. The treated Kevlar can be sewn like all other fabrics. The uses for STF are unlimited. Not only can it prevent stabbing, but also could be used in jump boots to stiffen on impact and protect ankles from injury.
Source:
http://www.sofmag.com/news/permalink1/2006/7/16/1206332814270.html?section=list down near the bottom of the article.
Overall its a rather interesting one too.
Form-fitting body armor! Woohoo!
It's come up before. At least 2½ years before, in fact. Search for "shear thickening fluid", for example.
| QUOTE (Austere Emancipator) |
| It's come up before. At least 2½ years before, in fact. Search for "shear thickening fluid", for example. |
Shear Thickening Fluid as body armor has been in semi-serious development since the 70s, really. In fiction it's even older.
You can make a STF by mixing cornstarch in water. 1 part water to 1.5–2 parts cornstarch
=)
yeah, but cornstarch and water won't stop a 30-06. hopefully this will
Sure it will, with enough of it.
~J
| QUOTE (Kagetenshi) |
| Sure it will, with enough of it. ~J |
"Quickly" is a relative term.
As I said, this technology has been in development in one form or another for over 30 years. Heck, that article in the first post is over a year old.
Not a single report or story about it has ever discussed it as being more than in the very very early development, practically still in the conceptual stage.
This tells me that they simply are not making any headway into finding a shear thickening material that can stiffen fast enough and hard enough to stop a bullet.
-karma
http://www.google.com/search?q=%22shear+thickening+fluid%22+%22body+armor%22+pdf Impregnating kevlar sheets with silica particles in ethylene glycol have been repeatedly shown to increase the ballistic resistance of the kevlar sheet to equal that of a neat kevlar sheet of equal area density. For example, a 12-layer kevlar sheet with STF might be able to resist projectile impacts as well as an 18-layer kevlar sheet without STF, while being much thinner and more flexible.
So far there seems to be no significant advantage in protection per weight. A major issue preventing this from coming into use right away is that a soldier's armor vest is supposed to be able to handle extreme weather and quite a bit of abuse for months, which is far longer than the STF is likely to stick around in the armor panels in those conditions.
| QUOTE |
| So far there seems to be no significant advantage in protection per weight. A major issue preventing this from coming into use right away is that a soldier's armor vest is supposed to be able to handle extreme weather and quite a bit of abuse for months, which is far longer than the STF is likely to stick around in the armor panels in those conditions. |
That's good news. Are there any serious issues left unsolved, then?
| QUOTE (Austere Emancipator) |
| That's good news. Are there any serious issues left unsolved, then? |
yeah, but we need to spend money on the JSF!
forget the troops, let's pretend we need to dogfight the Chinese!
| QUOTE (Fix-it @ Jan 19 2007, 04:48 AM) |
| yeah, but we need to spend money on the JSF! forget the troops, let's pretend we need to dogfight the Chinese! |
| QUOTE (Cray74 @ Jan 18 2007, 09:42 PM) |
| Yeah: transition from prototype to field use. It's the "valley of death" for advanced materials projects. Just because you've got a nifty item doesn't mean anyone's going to buy it. The inertia of current, in-stock equipment is incredible. |
| QUOTE (KarmaInferno) | ||
Absolutely true. Why change what you're currently using unless the new tech offers a measurable benefit? If you can't justify the cost of replacing all the existing tech, it will never sell. So far the 'dream' of a thin gel pack that can harden instantly into an impenetrable armor plate is just that, a dream. No shear thickening fluid so far even comes close. The best results so far are to merely improve the protective characteristics of existing types of soft armor. The benefits of which can be also be achieved by simply adding more layers of armor cloth. Which is more likely to be chosen? Personally, I'm of the opinion that this is one of those technologies that will be rendered obsolete by ongoing improvement to existing armor materials, before the new tech can even come to field use. -karma |
| QUOTE (KarmaInferno @ Jan 19 2007, 02:54 PM) |
| Absolutely true. Why change what you're currently using unless the new tech offers a measurable benefit? If you can't justify the cost of replacing all the existing tech, it will never sell. |
| QUOTE (Kesslan) |
| [QUOTE=KarmaInferno,Jan 19 2007, 09:54 AM] I mean think about it for a moment. Armor 1 has 13 layers and offers protection X. It costs $600 Armor 2 is identical but has 16 layers and offers not much more protection to the tune of $900 Armor 3 on the other hand has 14 layers and the liquid. Offering the same protection as armor 2, but also has the added benifit of not only weighing say.. 2lbs less, but also is cheaper to the tune of $850 $50 isnt much difference for a single vest. But what if your buying 80,000 vests? Thats a savings of 4 million. |
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