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Building Better Body Armor With Nanofoams

Posted by samzenpus on from the protect-ya-neck dept.

Zothecula writes "Given that scientists are already looking to sea sponges as an inspiration for body armor, perhaps we shouldn't be surprised that foam is also being considered ... not just any foam, though. Unlike regular foam, specially-designed nanofoams could someday not only be used in body armor, but also to protect buildings from explosions."

9 of 74 comments (clear)

  1. Wow by telchine · · Score: 4, Funny

    Nanotechnology... the next big thing.

    I'll get my coat

    1. Re:Wow by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Nanotechnology... the next big thing.

      I'll get my coat

      It sure does make for annoying headlines; but 'nanotechnology' is sort of a concept that is doomed by nature to be spread vacuously thin across all sorts of things, both incremental advances and more remarkable stuff.

      There probably a material in existence whose bulk properties don't derive from its structure at a fine scale, so the entire history of fields like metallurgy is 'nanotechnology' in a weak sense. On the other hand, though, most of that history, even to the present for economically viable bulk production, is largely messing around with heating and cooling parameters, and throwing various trace impurities into the mix, and then hoping really hard that the right nanoscale structures self-assemble.

      The real problem is deciding where to draw the line between 'yeah, it's "nanotech" in the vacuous sense that all materials engineering is' and 'actually "nanotech" in some sense that makes it worthy of the title'...

  2. Troy Hurtubise by 50000BTU_barbecue · · Score: 3, Informative

    Didn't he come up with something like this? Or am I misremembering one of his inventions? I recall someone putting a mound of shaving cream-looking stuff on a bomb and it went phut instead of boom. Then I remember Hurtubise demonstrating armor by being shot at.

    --
    Mostly random stuff.
  3. Buildings smuildings by shione · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I can see a lot better use for this than putting it on buildings. How often do buildings in the first world get bombed anyway and what affect will it have on demolishing them when needed? Put them in carparks, as crash barriers and traffic devices, even fencing walls, anything to hold cars back so they cannot cause greater damage to others.

  4. No real details about these... by Lumpy · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I would LOVE for them to figure out a better foam for armor for us motorcyclists. Right now we have standard polymer foams in our armor, but I would love some effective stuff that is thinner fill in the non impact points for extra protection. Right now I have thick CE rated foam armor in impact locations that also has kevlar on the outside, but I would love to have a reactive foam for a backboard that is flexible normally but solidifies into a backboard when the texting bimbo in the minivan runs me off the road and I come off the bike.

    Current motorcycle armor is effective, but it could be better.

    --
    Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
    1. Re:No real details about these... by 1369IC · · Score: 3, Interesting

      These things tend to make their way into industry, but it'll take a while. ARO funding university work is usually a first step in the process, but at the end, if it works out, it gets transitioned to industry in one form or fashion. For example, flexible display research started out with Army funding and there was a consortium with universities and industry. Here's a story. You can see they started working on it in '04, the article is from '08 and they're not at Best Buy just yet. Full disclosure: The Army Research Office is part of the Army Research Lab, which is part of the command I work in, the Research, Development and Engineering Command. We taxpayers fund a lot of research.

  5. Re:How many licks does it take to get to the cente by lxs · · Score: 4, Funny

    I think you'd first have to invent a compressible liquid. Most liquids are characterized by being barely compressible. even in high pressure hydraulics the liquid is only compressed by one or two percent.

  6. Re:How many licks does it take to get to the cente by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Wouldn't this foam work better if the empty spaces were filled with a compressible liquid?

    How about gas?

    What do you think the "empty" space in a foam is filled with?

    --
    systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
  7. Re:How many licks does it take to get to the cente by al.caughey · · Score: 5, Funny

    What do you think the "empty" space in a foam is filled with?

    My socks that go missing from the laundry?