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Bomb-Proof Wallpaper Developed
MikeChino writes "Working in partnership with the US Army Corp of Engineers, Berry Plastics has rolled out a new breed of bomb-proof wallpaper. Dubbed the X-Flex Blast Protection System, the wallpaper is so effective that a single layer can keep a wrecking ball from smashing through a brick wall, and a double layer can stop blunt objects (i.e. a flying 2×4) from knocking down drywall. According to its designers, covering an entire room takes less than an hour."
But will it blend?
Why is this considered idle? It seems like very promising and useful technology.
i think i need underpants made out of this stuff.
Might reduce the BSOD freq.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transparent_aluminium
It looks like it's just self-stick Kevlar. So it's going to be hideously expensive. However, maybe the Army overpaying for it will help them find advanced production methods to cut costs and benefit us in the long run. But then what? Possible uses: line car gas/hydrogen tanks with it. But aside from that and protecting masonry walls from disintegrating in an explosion, I can't see any practical use. As a commenter on the article site said, what if this is a load bearing wall? Looks like it would just fold up and take the building with it. Great, no shrapnel, I get it. But as cool a future would be where every building is bomb proof, I don't see it happening before a nanotech alternative that's self-healing and much better at linear support.
Cool! Amazing Toys.
If this can stop projectiles from penetrating the wall, then think about the protection it could offer from tornados and hurricanes. Obviously not a direct hit, since there'd be far more structural damage, but how much of that damage caused by flying debris could be mitigated. At the very least, the protection it could offer for occupants.
Well, it certainly looks interesting, but in the video the wallpaper was anchored very securely at the top and bottom of the test wall. I'd like to see how it does with only the sticky backing of the product itself keeping it on the wall.
http://www.rootstrikers.org/
I just have to love any product that will require a whole new type of work for the demolitions industry - wallpaper remover! Would the job title be Interior Undecorator, or Interior Dedecorator?
Rhino liner works great
I'm going to use this as wallpaper for my desktop. Does that now make my computer bomb-proof?
1. There was no pressure (other than gravity) being exerted down on the wall. So yeah, the wall is going to buckle but not fall when a semi-strong cohesive surface is covering the entire back side. 2. They should have tested it against normal wallpaper (or cloth for that matter), not just NO wallpaper.
Makes me think of proof glass or wardable paint from http://www.amazon.com/Sunshine-Robin-McKinley/dp/0425191788 I guess truth really is at least as strange as fiction.
What will happen if the bomb is inside the building with this wallpaper? Where would the explosion go?
Maybe in the next movie, Superman (or "LL") could put in an order for condoms made out of this material. After all, it would certainly solve a lot of problems.
Never confuse movement with action. --Hemingway
I have seen this demonstrated on television at least twice in the last year. Isn't it a bit late to be getting to Slashdot?
... you don't have to punch through a wall to otherwise destroy it. Even if this stuff stops a wrecking ball from breaking through a brick wall, can you imagine what kind of a shattered mess it will be in after force of the impact? It will still have be rebuilt from the ground up. The video in TFA demonstrates that: if that block wall had been a load-bearing wall, whatever big weight it was supporting would probably still come crashing down.
This is DEFINITELY what i'm putting on my desktop. Does it come in 1024x768?
Looking at the video it looks like the "wallpaper" was supported at the top and the bottom by the rig used to hold the wall (and "wallpaper") in place. Making the "wallpaper" act more like a safety net catching a falling object than something reinforcing the wall itself.
How well does it work when it's a wall bearing load instead of the rig bearing the load of the "wallpaper" and the impact?
How can a wallpaper displaying 3 bombs help against anything?
Is it like the red ribbon, if I use this wallpaper I give money to peace soldiers or something?
And is it available in a 1680x1050 resolution?
This stuff needs to be put in the walls of the homes out in hurricane alley. Tactical considerations are nice of course, but in your day-to-day those people could probably use it more. Especially since every so often 2x4s doing 250+ mph are thrown at their homes.
Weaselmancer
rediculous.
As a volunteer firefighter I see this is a horrible idea for being put in use in homes and offices. Im not sure how easily a firefighter will be able to get through the material. If a firefighter becomes lost or disoriented in a building during a fire, one tactic they can use is to find out where the nearest window is and if they can get to it easily. Sometimes they will need to go bust through an interior wall. With this wallpaper I think it would be near impossible to get through the wall which could lead to unnecessary deaths.
The wall does not have a load on it, otherwise I think it would fully collapse afterwards. Requires structural framing to work.
kind of an inside out airbag.
Wonder how a vehicle with this as a tensile skin would crash test? The body would become a safety cocoon.
The wallpaper doesn't let my video projector display Battlefield Earth.
How about embedding kevlar-web in concrete? As a building technique generally. Earthquake resistance?
-kgj
MS Windows, moron
I think it might be better called "bomb resistant". Certainly a big enough bomb would go right through it. They make them into the megaton range these days...
"Convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth than lies."
So how will they, eventually, demolish buildings that have been wallpapered with this stuff?
an unstoppable cannon ball hits and unbreakable wall?
Maybe Computers will never be as intelligent as Humans.
For sure they won't ever become so stupid. [VR-1988]
Now they can start on that 'Bomb Proof' school desk that my parents hear so much about when they were kids.....
Knowing Google's lust for data collection, the Soviet Union is still alive and well inside the psyche of Sergey Brin....
Felt was often used to stop arrows.
In fact the Arabs were gobsmacked at how the Crusaders looked like pin cushions and still fought. I am amazed that the still fought in the heat of the Middle East in all that felt.
Plate's weakness was concussion weapons (e.g., maces) You didn't generally pierce or slash someone in plate with a sword (Although with a long or recurved bow it was much easier to pierce). Instead you bashed them and caused internal injuries. The shockwaves traveled fairly well through the plate (although you had to expend energy deforming the plate)
Oscar Wilde famously said "My wallpaper and I are fighting a duel to the death. One of us has got to go". I'm thinking this could swing the odds.
A chain's only as strong as it's weakest link. So if this stuff is glued to the walls with anything less strong than it is, that adhesive will become the problem: not the bombproof wallpaper. Presumably "wallpaper" is the wrong term, too as this stuff would have to coat the floor and ceiling (and doors & windows) to be completely effective. Then what would you do if you lost your keys? Move house?
politicians are like babies' nappies: they should both be changed regularly and for the same reasons
If it keeps wrecking balls out, then, it can probably keep wrecking balls in. Hmmmmm
if only he twin towers would have been covered with it....
Hmm I always wanted to cover my house in those lovely victorian patterns. Now I can hold tea parties and casually talk about my bomb proof wallpaper... Oh, isn't that lovely? Yes, yes it is indeed, dear.
Design the building so the roof is supported by only interior walls and so there are multiple load points, and you have a much better chance of it staying up.
High school chemistry labs? perhaps Hollywood can find a way to wrap their movies in it? Thank you! I'll be here all week! Try the adolescent bovine!
If you've seen the damage the average dorm-rat causes, you'd understand why I say it would be just the thing for the dorms. ;P
(Both College and Military)
Esp in areas like Sderot which has been subjected to years of rocket fire from Gaza. I'm sure making houses more bomb proof would go over quite well. I live in Israel but not in Sderot, we actually have a bomb shelter in our house, but we use it as a storage closet.
Erlang Developer and podcaster
So why don't we just build the walls out of the same material ?
Well, that's obvious and it was explained all over the internet, several years ago.You have no chance to survive. Make your time.
What I want to know is, if I install this wallpaper in my Windows workstation, would it prevent it from crashing?
-dZ.
Carol vs. Ghost
Yeah I said it. Duck and cover y'all.
Cause you know that ain't gonna hurt you with yo magic wall.
Safety for the fly on the wall.
While the product certainly has potential, the vids are totally useless. They're throwing a tiny wrecking ball against walls with very little height that support nothing else but their own weight?
Wouldn't you expect that if the walls were actually supporting more weight, they'd crumble regardless of the X-Flex?
This might be useful to stop debris fragments and such, but the wall itself will crumble in most cases...
Link doesn't work.
Copy/Paste = too much effort.
An SQL query goes to a bar, walks up to a table and asks, "Mind if I join you?"
All your wallpaper are belong to us.
Can it withstand the force of a 3 year old with a pair of scissors, a mushy banana, and a sharpie?
Go green: turn off your refrigerator.
smashlab anyone ? that show suck, but we did see something like this in that show 2 years ago.
That pattern will be sooo 2012.
If you mod this up, your slashdot background will turn into a beautiful sunset!
I wish he had a video of using two layers. I am not sure that the material could directly handle the impact. But it seems if the developed a layer for the outside, and a layer for the inside you could have better results.
Sounds great! Now they just have to figure out how to make all shrapnel blunt and this stuff will actually be worth the money put into it.
"Growing old is inevitable; growing up is optional."
"Chipotle - away" not working for you any more either? They said it was bomb-proof not blood-proof sadly.
an unstoppable cannon ball hits and unbreakable wall?
You would now have an unbreakable (and possibly unstoppable) wall flying in front of the unstoppable cannon ball.
You didn't think that one through, did you.
I think the goal is to keep the wall up long enough for you to get out alive, not to maintain the building up to code in the event of a bomb blast or a tornado tossed automobile. The roof will still fall in, but it may take 5-15 min instead of 5-15 seconds. I live in Tornado Alley and if I buy a home in this area I'd definitely consider buying this for my home to increase my families chance of escape if a tornado hits our home.
Bureaucracy expands to meet the needs of the expanding bureaucracy.-Oscar Wilde
That demonstration is very misleading.
Observe that the material is not actually fastened to the wall, rather is is anchored to the top of the wall and the bottom of the wall (look at the piece of angle iron in the demo)
This angle iron also distributes the force across the material, without it, it would just rip out where it was anchored, such as if just screws were used to attach it. I would bet that that piece of angle iron is pretty well tightened...
If it were truly fastened as wallpaper, then it may prevent the wall from shattering, however the wall would still collapse where the material stopped unless anchored (as in the demo). Hence, instead of pieces of a wall falling on you, the entire wall would just fall on you, probably killing you...
And yes, the rest of the structure would still collapse on you as well.
This is probably an advance, however it probably would require new structural building techniques, as well as additional steel anchors/angle iron for it to be truly effective. Not something joe public could ever afford, but I am sure governments could "find" the money.....
I hope they make a 1600x1200 version.
Lazy reporting around here?
If Pop Mechanics or Science can report it first.. Just fucking link it.
What if you just bypass drywall and bricks and other "skinning" materials and just put a sheet on each side of a wood frame, then insulate it.
"Action without philosophy is a lethal weapon; philosophy without action is worthless."
It is certainly true that this wallpaper would not prevent structural collapse, but just because it does not solve every problem associated with a bomb blast does not mean that it isn't worthwhile! For starters, many of the walls in a given building are NOT load bearing in any way -- they could go away completed and the structure would be fine. Secondly, even load bearing walls will be able to sustain a certain amount of damage before caving completely. Even if this reduced the damage long enough for people to get outside before the building collapsed, we would be saving lives. Thirdly, one of the biggest dangers from a bomb blast comes not from the actual concussive force of the blast but from the huge amounts of shrapnel. This would effectively render the shrapnel a non-issue for the inhabitants of the room. So yes, this is not a perfect solution. If you put this up in a room, a bomb could still kill you. It will, however, drastically increase your odds in most scenarios.
To the haters: You can't win. If you mod me down, I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine
And you thought the regular stuff was hard to steam off.
Wonder how a vehicle with this as a tensile skin would crash test? The body would become a safety cocoon.
No, it would most likely be a deadly coffin. Crash zones in cars that absorb the impact energy are there for a reason, namely to keep you from decelerating too quickly and thus being harmed.
If it was transparent, maybe it could stop windows from crashing and finally make it a stable operating system.
-1, Wrong rather than +3 Insightful I'm afraid.
Arrows go straight through body armour and chainmail (which is designed for protection against cuts from light swords). Arrows even go through modern bullet-proof jackets worn by police unless it contains a steel or titanium trauma plate in the middle (extremely rare). An arrow is around 20-60 times heavier than a bullet and usually much sharper. The overall energy of an arrow in flight may be less than that of a bullet but it's a better shape for piercing body armour (sharper) and made of a much harder metal than a traditional lead-based bullet, which tends to flatten or break up on impact with soft materials such as the energy dissipating layers of bullet proof vests.
Mail isn't necessarily chain mail.
Rossby excavation found an armour made of 320 plates stitched together under a tunic as a plate mail.
Will it stand against a house full of toddlers?
I use irony whenever I can, but my shirts are still wrinkled...
There was a writeup on this stuff in this (last?) month's Popular Science. They posted a video of a wrecking ball hitting brick walls with and without it on their website.
http://www.popsci.com/bown/2009/video/video-bombproof-wallpaper-vs-wrecking-ball
~Warning!~ The above is encrypted using rot676!
Just give me a Bomb Proof house so i can decorate my walls the way i want... Frankly bombproof Wall paper is like giving someone bullet proof pepto-bismal.
"Well sir you see the bullet did not enter your stomach; unfortunately everything around it has been severely damaged. But at-least it worked."
Bomb-proof wallpaper is great -- if the bomb goes off outside. If someone sets off a bomb INSIDE, it wll keep the force inside the room. Result? Soldier soup!
I noticed that right away. I was looking at the wallpaper bounce away from the wall thinking why didn't the paper just fall off? You can see that it moves away from the wall(adhesive lets go). Sure enough it is secure at both ends. How many people secure their wallpaper at both ends with a metal bar? Thanks for bringing this up. Please mod parent up.
How much of this stuff do the Iranians need to protect their nuclear facilities against the bunker-busting ordnance?
Those "toys" can go through many feet of reinforced concrete — maybe, that material will now go the way of the CRT-monitors?..
In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
As did I . The reason they did it was so they could remove it from the wall so the could then smash the wall.
Then I went to the web site:
http://xflexsystem.com/content.aspx?page=technology
and apparently it is supposed to be anchored and stuck the wall. However new building build with the will be safer from blasts.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
Look at the damage done to buildings in terrorist attacks, the bomb is usually outside and blows the shell of the building in while the structure itself often survives.
With the wallpaper, the outside shell would remain together, no shrapnel blasting in or collapsing on people. Outside walls in big buildings rarely carry a structural load.
So this isn't meant to keep your house up against an earthquake or something, it really is what it says it is, supposed to stop the wall from collapsing from a bomb blast. NOT to keep it intact as a load bearing structure, but to keep it from doing damage to people inside.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
Living by beach sounds wonderful, until you realize that everything there has a 1/3rd useful utility span; and you get to pay for that too. So you buy the 50 year shingles, and the Treated Lumber, and Heavier Wiring. But the question remains. Can I paint this stuff? Can I work with this stuff? So what if it can make a Tornado ask, "Please?"; can it withstand the dust, and salt, combined with the moister of the ocean or the dry air of desert breezes?
Sure, it's bomb-proof, but what I really want to know is, is it kid-proof? I've got a child that has done several hundred dollars worth of drywall damage just be playing in the house...
I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
> "...is so effective that a single layer can keep a wrecking ball from smashing through a brick wall, and a double
> layer can stop blunt objects (i.e. a flying 2×4) from knocking down drywall. According to its designers, covering an
> entire room takes less than an hour."
"Congress has already had the Capital Building and its offices covered within a few days. Schools for children in Iraq should be covered within 15 years, according to schedule."
(-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
This is as off-topic as you can get, but I can't stand it when people use "i.e." when they actually mean "e.g."--"can stop blunt objects (i.e. a flying 2×4)" makes it sound like a flying 2x4 is the only blunt object the author knows of. Lately, it's felt like a lost battle though.
Actually, there's a lot of testing for this kind of stuff going on in Civil/Structural Engineering right now. It's true that sometimes the bond between materials is the deciding factor for failure. With some of the newest epoxy and proper treatment of the wall beforehand you can avoid those issues, though. I do note that it says "Kevlar-like" material. I find it odd that that'd use Aramid fibers (what kevlar's made of) in such an application, since they have a moisture absorption problem. Glass Fibers are cheaper, but not as strong. Carbon Fibers would probably be more typical (despite their relatively high cost). The anchors at the top of the wall simulate a roof tie system. In an actual building, there's a lot that's helping hold it together. A live test of a carbon system (with actual explosion!) is here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oYm_bNgBLY . No angle iron needed, just proper treatment of the wall and application of the materials. now some of the bond may not be alright after this . . . It may not hold up to multiple blasts. The idea is you take a hit and you get someone out to repair the structure as necessary. The point is this isn't just a gimmick or misleading. There is actual hard core R&D going on in the development of FRP (Fiber-reinforced polymer) materials as a retrofit or new construction material for exactly this purpose, to increase strength in otherwise weak and/or broken structures. (UCSD used to be pretty big in this arena, they have some crazy testing equipment including a blast test simulator).
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy could have gone completely different with this stuff. Arthur Dent might have just slept through the demolition of his planet, or at least woken up to a large crashing sound, followed by a much larger crashing sound. Or perhaps it would've gone on mostly the same, except the bit about his house would never have happened!
a wall made out of it?
duh.
Why go for the high-tech solution? This link describes 'Quake Safe' which was developed by an engineering graduate http://www.abc.net.au/tv/newinventors/txt/s1794024.htm shows that simple bamboo and wire wrapping can protect buildings in earthquake zones, a lot of those being in Asia where bamboo is cheap and readily available.
You are correct that it wouldn't be much use in an American house. However keep in mind that modern commercial architecture generally eschews load bearing walls in favor of pylons (reinforced concrete columns, that is) with "curtain walls" of brick or other material.
While houses in the USA are still built with 150 year old technology and load-bearing walls, most new public buildings in the USA are not - and thus this sort of protection could be quite useful. Modern architecture generally eschews load bearing walls in favor of pylons (reinforced concrete columns, that is) with "curtain walls" of brick or other material. A curtain wall giving way may even be an advantage in relieving some of the pressure from a blast, though how much of an advantage is open to debate.
Of course, the protection would only be partial, but I can see how this might be useful in some places.
Oversold as "bombproof wallpaper"? Of course. Useless? No.
How does this work better than pictures of half-naked girls already on my desktop?
When I saw "Bomb-Proof", I was hoping for radiation and heat shielding. in the Bay Area, WMDs worry me more than conventional bombs.
Interesting, thx. Further evidence that bamboo is a miracle plant.
-kgj
They should include this technology in garbage bags. No more messy floors after something poked through.
Was i the only one to think that desktop wallpapers have advanced in leaps and bounds? Does any one us wallpaper any more?