Blast-Proof Fabric Resists Multiple Explosions

An anonymous reader tips a Gizmodo story on a fabric whose properties are counterintuitive, to say the least of it. "Zetix is a fabric so strong it will resist multiple car bomb blasts without breaking. It absorbs and disperses the energy from explosions... it can be used in body armor, window covering, military tents, and hurricane defenses... [and] it can be used as medical sutures that won't damage body tissue. All of this is thanks to a property that apparently defies the laws of physics: helical-auxetics, objects that actually get fatter the more you stretch them. The concept makes my head want to explode, but when you see it in action it actually makes sense."

Comments

Re:Energy dissipation

[ecklesweb]

Oh yeah, video of the dragon skin grenade test here

Video of Auxetic material

[jupitersspot]

Nice video showing and explaining the phenomenon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdkYuLsT7Sc

Re:Energy dissipation

[gurps_npc]

Some people here simply do not understand how armor works. So they think "this thing won't protect you, because it doesn't stop the energy/pressure, it just doesn't break".

Armor is not just a single layer of stuff, it is multiple layers. Yes, this stuff by itself is not worth much as armor, but layer it on top of other thigns, and you got something special.

Each layer stops something else. This layer does not break, so it stops penetration. Make a cell structure of this, fill it with something else, like say SAND, and that pressure wave you were so worried about becomes contained. Two layers of a cell structure like this, with sand in between them, and the entire explosive kinetic energy is contained, converted to heat, deflect out, or otherwise dealt with.