Help: "Bulletproof" Vest Questions!

[LJH]

I am not sure if this is relevant but look up "buckyballs," it is interesting nano tech of the future stuff. The more force you apply the more rigid it becomes.

Its application is not armor specific, but it would be about perfect.

 

[LJH]

buckyballs is short for buckminsterfullerene

 

[shortround]

Write your paper to dismiss the myth of a "Bullet-Proof Vest." There is no such thing.

The Navy did some experimentation with the polymers used in spray-on truck bed liners.

Some of their research showed those compounds helpful in blast attenuation and in ballistic protection.

As for protection from high velocity small-arms projectiles, ceramic plates are essential components, not the Kevlar itself.

There are plenty reports from the field that Kevlar Helmets and body armor defeated hits by 7.62x39 Soviet rounds, but those rounds fly pretty slow.

Good luck on your paper.

Be well.

 

[RstyShcklfrd]

I am not sure if this is relevant but look up "buckyballs," it is interesting nano tech of the future stuff. The more force you apply the more rigid it becomes.

Its application is not armor specific, but it would be about perfect.

Unfortunately my paper has to based around transition metal chemistry.

Write your paper to dismiss the myth of a "Bullet-Proof Vest." There is no such thing.

The Navy did some experimentation with the polymers used in spray-on truck bed liners.

Some of their research showed those compounds helpful in blast attenuation and in ballistic protection.

As for protection from high velocity small-arms projectiles, ceramic plates are essential components, not the Kevlar itself.

There are plenty reports from the field that Kevlar Helmets and body armor defeated hits by 7.62x39 Soviet rounds, but those rounds fly pretty slow.

Good luck on your paper.

Be well.

Haha, I guess the term bullet-resistant vest is better.

 

[AKM]

doesnt dragon skin stop rifle rounds...but they have ceramic in them I think too. I wonder if non-newtonian type fluids could be used for bullet proofing....doubt it but just an idea...

 

[jeepinbanditrider]

doesnt dragon skin stop rifle rounds...but they have ceramic in them I think too. I wonder if non-newtonian type fluids could be used for bullet proofing....doubt it but just an idea...

Dragon skin is small ceramic discs layered in a scale pattern like lizard scales.

It actually works really well but they discovered that at certain angles the bullets would slip though the plates. IMO it was still a step up from the IBA vests with just plates front and rear woth maybe some small side SAPIs no armor is perfect though.


Sent from my iPhone

 

[Texas1911]

And as for "something that can absorb the impact and spring back to take another hit", I believe ceramic plates would not be able to withstand multiple hits from rifle rounds either. But if the user can take a shot from a bullet without being knocked down, they would be able to respond faster.

They can take multiple hits and were a replacement for steel plate inserts. They are handling sensitive though, dropping them is a no-no.

I would argue that aerogel + kevlar would be a better vest for police officers. The impact attenuation of the aerogel would help in car wrecks, blunt force trauma from weapons, and also lighten the vest and give better flexibility.

The bullet itself doesn't have enough energy to knock someone down, but it's the magical 100-MPH fastball you just took to the chest out of nowhere that does it.

 

[SC-Texas]

The Geeks came out tonight!

Interesting note form a sci fi story by Larry Niven: Ringworld. they had a flexible armor that would instantaneously harden with hit with something with kinetic energy and then go back to its soft anf flexible mode.

 

[shortround]

Got it!

Be well.

 

[M. Sage]

And as for "something that can absorb the impact and spring back to take another hit", I believe ceramic plates would not be able to withstand multiple hits from rifle rounds either. But if the user can take a shot from a bullet without being knocked down, they would be able to respond faster.

Just an idea though. Lol

And it's a good idea.

FWIW, most plates (especially the newer ones) are capable of taking multiple hits. Unless you're on the edge of your balance when you're hit (or fall down out of surprise), there's no reason a rifle caliber round will knock you down. There's old video of a body armor manufacturer demonstrating an early rifle protective vest. He uses a FN FAL in .308 Winchester, the test subject is a man that stands on one foot and takes a round to the chest at about 2 feet from the muzzle.

He doesn't even move. The energy is high, but IIRC, you can get more force from a well-thrown punch.

This video shows the FAL shot at about 1:45 and another at about 6:00.

 

[TheDan]

The molecules align and it becomes rigid when you apply a high amount of force to the stuff. Let me look for it...

Cornstarch does this

Question: Is an aerogel really that suitable? I thought they were brittle... Something that can absorb the impact and spring back to take another hit seems more appropriate. What was that gel-like stuff they developed a few years ago? They were dropping light bulbs and eggs off a roof onto the stuff to demo it...

It absorbs energy by self destructing. Kinda like "crumple zones" in a car. Or like the nose cone of a F1 car. Seen any hit the wall head on? The nose cone turns into carbon fiber mulch, but in doing so absorbs all the energy and the driver walks away.

Rsty, the raw energy of a rifle round has a lot to do with it's penetrating ability, but the shape comes into play as well. A pointed projectile will be able to concentrate all of it's energy into a very small cross section. You might end up with a vest that could handle a 2500fps flat nose bullet, but not a 2500fps spitzer.

 

[AKM]

That's the non-Newtonian fluid I was talking about, cornstarch and water

Cornstarch does this :

 

[BigBoss0311]

Energy is the reason. Shape helps sure, but when something is flying at you fast as shit, it's going through you no matter what you have on you. It's why shrapnel goes through steel like a hot knife thru butter. Oh, and dragon skin sucks. Personal experience and the experience of quite a few guys i work with as well. There's better out there.

 

[RstyShcklfrd]

Well I wrote the paper and submitted my first draft. I guess we'll see what happens. It's not a literal proposal so I'm feeling pretty confident.

 

[London]

Don't forget the shape of the bullet has an effect. Most bullet proof vests won't stop knives because the are too sharp and pointy- I imagine a typical rifle round acts similarly.