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Main Forums => The Roundtable => Topic started by: gunsmith on May 24, 2017, 12:23:07 AM

Title: bullet resistant goo, its new.
Post by: gunsmith on May 24, 2017, 12:23:07 AM
 :cool:


https://www.airforcetimes.com/articles/air-force-academy-cadet-creates-goo-that-stops-bullets

Quote
Air Force Cadet 1st Class Hayley Weir has developed a goo that, when struck by a bullet, hardens enough to stop it.

Weir came up with the idea during an Air Force Academy chemistry class, during which she was given three materials to combine in a way that could both stop a bullet without shattering. Weir experimented with epoxy, Kevlar and carbon fiber, and consulted with a chemist who suggested swapping out the epoxy for shear thickening fluid.
Quote from real clear life dot com - pretty interesting
Title: Re: bullet resistant goo, its new.
Post by: zxcvbob on May 24, 2017, 01:24:10 AM
The word is "thixotropic".  It's not new; I would be surprised if this is a new application of it, but I guess it might be.
Title: Re: bullet resistant goo, its new.
Post by: RoadKingLarry on May 24, 2017, 01:33:00 AM
I can't shake the notion that I've read about similar stuff before.
Title: Re: bullet resistant goo, its new.
Post by: dogmush on May 24, 2017, 01:53:31 AM
DARPA's been playing with it for body armor for years.
Title: Re: bullet resistant goo, its new.
Post by: 230RN on May 24, 2017, 04:22:49 AM
I always thought "thixotropic" meant something thinned out when agitated, so I looked it up:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thixotropy

I thought this part of that wiki article  was amusing, and I hate to point it out because it will surely result in thread drift:

Quote
Both cytoplasm and the ground substance in the human body is thixotropic, as is semen.[1]

I wonder how they discovered that one. ??? :D

It (the Cadet's mixture) stopped "a" bullet.  Looked like a .22LR to me in the video, but hard to tell fer shore.

From the Air Force Times article: "The idea to separately use shear thickening fluid, Kevlar and carbon fibers as anti-ballistic materials is not new, but they’ve never been used together."

Add 3.8% of Silly Putty and they may have something there.

I'm not trying to diminish or nay-say the achievement, but it looks like the whole thing was puffed up a bit for some reason.

Terry, 230RN

Title: Re: bullet resistant goo, its new.
Post by: K Frame on May 24, 2017, 07:16:18 AM
DARPA's been playing with it for body armor for years.

There was a movie some years ago, can't remember what it was, that had "liquid body armor."

One of the characters got across a downed power line and was essentially frozen in place (but fine) because the armor reacted to the electricity and formed a shell, locking him in place.
Title: Re: bullet resistant goo, its new.
Post by: K Frame on May 24, 2017, 07:17:26 AM
If you google liquid body armor you'll get hits going back quite a few years.
Title: Re: bullet resistant goo, its new.
Post by: Fly320s on May 24, 2017, 07:43:30 AM
Everything is bullet resistent if you're brave enough. 

I wonder how they discovered that one. ??? :D
Title: Re: bullet resistant goo, its new.
Post by: RevDisk on May 24, 2017, 08:12:35 AM

Non-Newtonian fluids have been a thing for a while. Corn starch and water will make an excellent one for demo sake. Folks have been trying to make a body armor out of it for a long while. It hasn't been practical yet.
Title: Re: bullet resistant goo, its new.
Post by: MechAg94 on May 24, 2017, 10:08:32 AM
Everything is bullet resistent if you're brave enough. 

Air is bullet resistant also.  It slows down bullets, just not very quickly.   =)
Title: Re: bullet resistant goo, its new.
Post by: HeroHog on May 24, 2017, 10:47:28 AM
Everything is bullet resistant if you're brave enough (http://herohog.com/images/anime/dildo.jpg).

(sorry, couldn't help myself)
Title: Re: bullet resistant goo, its new.
Post by: K Frame on May 24, 2017, 11:10:45 AM
Why am I thinking that the body armor scene I'm describing was from a relatively recent (last 20 years or so) Bond movie?

Not sure if that's right or not, but it's sticking in my mind.
Title: Re: bullet resistant goo, its new.
Post by: gunsmith on May 24, 2017, 11:32:17 AM
I always thought "thixotropic" meant something thinned out when agitated, so I looked it up:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thixotropy
""
Both cytoplasm and the ground substance in the human body is thixotropic, as is semen.[1]""


I wonder how they discovered that one. ??? :D


Terry, 230RN



Probably some Marines discovered that one  :P