U.S. Army research lab using particles to stop bullets

The Daily Record (Baltimore) via SMALLTIMES ^ | July 20, 2006 | Joe Bacchus

[neverdem]

It flows like a liquid, but push it with enough force and it will stop you right in your tracks.

Research at the U.S. Army Research Laboratory in Aberdeen is at the heart of a new technology that could mean lightweight, flexible armor for U.S. soldiers.

The armor would move more like normal clothing while protecting more of the body, including the joints often left vulnerable by traditional body armor, said Eric Wetzel, a researcher in the Army laboratory's Weapons and Materials Research Directorate.

The liquid armor is actually traditional body armor soaked in a substance known as shear thickening fluid, Wetzel said. The liquid contains nanoparticles too tiny to see but more than big enough to have an impact - and to stop one.

If left alone or moved around at a normal rate, the liquid mimics the movement of water, he noted. However, when faced with a sudden impact, the particles don't have time to get out of each other's way so they lock into place, resisting even the strongest movements.

"That means a material capable of stopping a bullet can now resist even more," Wetzel remarked. He said it is common to combine different armor technologies to create more effective means of protection.

For instance, it can greatly improve the effectiveness of Kevlar, a bulletproof fiber used in the vests of soldiers and police officers. While Kevlar can stop a bullet, it is still just a fiber, meaning thin points such as an ice pick or a hypodermic needle can push past the threads and do what a bullet cannot. Wetzel said Kevlar fiber treated with shear thickening fluid will lock into place and resist such tiny intrusions.

"Together, they're both much stronger than they are apart," Wetzel added.

The combination also means armor manufacturers can reduce the layers of Kevlar needed in vests and other protective garments, so the nano-treated armor also becomes lighter and more flexible as it becomes more resistant.

Lighter, cheaper, stronger. "Weight is the name of the game in anti-ballistic products," said Michael Fox, spokesman for Armor Holdings Inc.

In February, the Florida-based company licensed the liquid armor technology through the University of Delaware. Norman Wagner, a professor of chemical engineering in the school's Center for Composite Research, developed the initial technology and contacted the Army laboratory in 2000 about the possibility of applying the fluid to body armor, Wetzel said. He said it took several years before the lab produced any positive results.

"However, showing it could work is only the first step," Wetzel declared.

The science community proved its potential, Fox said, but now industry has to apply it.

Fox said new and improved body armor is big business, and demand has grown significantly since the United States invaded Iraq in 2003. Recently, California-based Ceradyne Inc. received a five-year, $611 million contract from the U.S. Army for its lightweight ceramic body armor.

Fox said he believed the compelling, promising technology of liquid armor could have a significant effect on the market.

Armor Holdings manufactures and sells a wide variety of armored and protective materials, according to Fox. The company markets to the military, the law enforcement community and other groups that need protection.

Fox said Armor Holdings first intends to market the liquid armor technology to the correctional facility market. The puncture-proof fiber would seem especially vital for prison guards who face threats not from bullets but from homemade knives and other blades, Fox added.

Wetzel said the technology has other possible applications outside of the military and law enforcement markets. For instance, the shear thickening fluid can be used to treat gloves and clothing that could protect health care and sanitation workers from accidental punctures. That would increase the level of safety while also reducing costs associated with injury, he said.

[Sarajevo]

Ribcap incorporates revolutionary material d3o and provides you with a comfortable, shock absorbing hat that fits in your back pocket

The Ribcap was in development for 5 years, during which Jürg Ramseier (CEO) and his team were experimenting with other materials. When they found d3o there was a step change in the development - they had found something that really worked on impact.

The Ribcaps contain d3o in the form of moulded components or “ribs” as we call them. The Hendrix has different shaped components but they are moulded in the same way. For more info and stockists go to www.ribcap.com

The Spyder Giant Slalom race suit incorporates the sheet material in the contour texture as pictured below. The Race suits will be worn by Bode Miller and the rest of the US and Canadian Ski teams at this winter’s Olympics in Turin.

More good info here

[Hugin]

How long before someone posts a pic from Dune?

Personally I was thinking of Iron Man.

[diverteach]

The Discovery Channel's show "Future Weapons" showed prototypes of this. Very cool!!!

If you've never seen the show it's pretty good. Shows alotta stuff way way out on the cutting edge and not just US technology but from around the world.

[HarmlessLovableFuzzball]

The question is what will protect the head and the face.

[NicknamedBob]

Meteorites?

[NicknamedBob]

"The question is what will protect the head and the face. "

Aluminum Oxy-Nitride. -- AlON

[Hodar]

How long before someone posts a pic from Dune?

That is exactly what I was thinking as well. Great minds and all that.

[JohnBovenmyer]

The article linked at the bottom of #1 says

Liquid armor using shear thickening fluid (STF) is being developed at the U.S. Army Research Laboratory at Aberdeen Proving Grounds. The STF referred to in this article is made up of hard silica particles suspended in polyethylene glycol, a non-toxic fluid.

Polyethylene glycols of at least some types have been used as skin moisturizers and as bases for some prescription topical steroids. The skin tolerates them well. I presume their properties vary based on the lengths of the polymer chains used and I don't know how this STF PEG compares with the ointment PEGs with which this Dermatologist is familiar. I could conceive of an STF that would have the consistency of greasepaint and that could fairly safely be applied that way. The main concern would be it might worsen acne, which could become a significant problem granting that most soldiers are young men of acne prone ages. However I don't know how much protection it would give without the added Kevlar; it might be like a wall of mortar with no bricks. It's worth some R&D if there's a chance it could provide at least partial protection..

[Uriah_lost]

Think of "Silly Putty", moldable and flexible but rebounds under impact. We had braces when I played HS football that were made of a slightly more rigid form of the same material as "Silly Putty", it could be flexed and formed as long as you did it slowly but it would hold a wrist, for example, in place when I would punch the helmet of the guy opposite me. I was still able to grab his face mask and push him into the dirt, however. Twenty five odd years later I still miss being on the line.....
yeah, yeah, glory days and all that.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Want to try such a fluid yourself? Go get a box of regular cornstarch. Mix it up with cold water. Grab a handful and squeeze. Shear stress causes such thixotropic materials to harden under stress. Now relax your fist a bit and it turns right back to a fluid flowing through your fingers. Great fun!

[jiggyboy]

The DoD discovers ooblick!

[jiggyboy]

our enemies in the ME attribute virtually supernatural powers to US forces.

During WWII we put out the word that our black soldiers were at least naturally superior at night fighting compared to whites; I think we might have gone so far as to say that we had been breeding them specifically for the task. It's not outside the realm of possibility that the close Nazi-Islamist ties include passing tales of feared U.S. "powers".

[Northern Alliance]

Most armor has trouble stopping a knive or even flechett rounds (darts). Will this be able to stand up to slower, sharp, pointed weapons?

The article says it will. "While Kevlar can stop a bullet, it is still just a fiber, meaning thin points such as an ice pick or a hypodermic needle can push past the threads and do what a bullet cannot. Wetzel said Kevlar fiber treated with shear thickening fluid will lock into place and resist such tiny intrusions."

[xzins]

After reading this, liberals will scream:

"Our soldiers don't have body armor!"

Among other things, liberals are total idiots.

[Dallas59]

COPYRIGHT INFRINGMENT!!!

Larry Nevin came up with the idea back in 1967!:

"Here's another description of how the impact suit works:

"When I realized I was falling, I pulled my hood up and curled into a ball. My impact suit saved me by holding my shape - much as water in a vase does not change shape when you set it down hard."

Here's another quote from Larry Niven's Ringworld Engineers:

...Louis ran along the fence toward the walkway. The soldiers were close... The roar was disconcerting, even terrifying. A slug slammmed into Louis's ankle; the suit went rigid, and he rolled like a tumbled statue, picked himself up, and ran again. As two soldiers threw themselves at him, he swung over the fence and dropped...

Louis landed flat on his face, in an impact suit gone rigid as steel. The form-fitting coffin supported him, but he was still stunned...

Although Gerrold and Niven share authorship of the book, the impact suit is Niven's idea; see Flexible Armor Suit from The Soft Weapon, a short story published in 1967.

Blog This | Join the discussion : ( 5 )

[Hexenhammer]

Oobleck armor. Astounding!

[Jedi Master Pikachu]

So when is the armor set to go into production?

[Jedi Master Pikachu]

Wasn't Batman an ordinary guy with a freaky outfit?

[Jedi Master Pikachu]

Oatmeal's Scottish? And haggis is disgusting.

[AntiGuv]

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