Hard Light Productions Forums

Off-Topic Discussion => General Discussion => Topic started by: mikhael on April 24, 2004, 06:31:34 pm

Title: "Sintered armorplast: feel like gritty jello, protects like a stack of phonebooks"
Post by: mikhael on April 24, 2004, 06:31:34 pm
A cookie to the person that recognizes the quote.

So, take some nifty polyethylene-glycol, mix in some silica compounds and you get some nifty goo that pours, bends, drips and flows if you manipulate it slowly, but reacts like a brick wall when you try to get forceful--like trying to put a bullet through it.

Ob.Link (http://www4.army.mil/ocpa/read.php?story_id_key=5872)
Title: "Sintered armorplast: feel like gritty jello, protects like a stack of phonebooks"
Post by: Corsair on April 24, 2004, 06:47:31 pm
Tough stuff.
Title: "Sintered armorplast: feel like gritty jello, protects like a stack of phonebooks"
Post by: Bobboau on April 24, 2004, 06:51:47 pm
hey, this stuff could be used in cars, like that one sceen in Demolition Man
Title: "Sintered armorplast: feel like gritty jello, protects like a stack of phonebooks"
Post by: mikhael on April 24, 2004, 06:53:18 pm
You can make a version of this stuff with cornstarch and water. Materials like this at the right density (well molecular weight) will crack when you hit a mass of it with a hammer, and then flow back together. Truly great stuff. :)
Title: "Sintered armorplast: feel like gritty jello, protects like a stack of phonebooks"
Post by: Ghostavo on April 24, 2004, 06:53:33 pm
Nice... but wouldn't rapid movements from a person, like running or quickly moving an arm harden the material?

*steals cookie, eats it and leaves crums*
Title: "Sintered armorplast: feel like gritty jello, protects like a stack of phonebooks"
Post by: Bobboau on April 24, 2004, 06:54:59 pm
not unless there swinging there arms at mach 3
Title: "Sintered armorplast: feel like gritty jello, protects like a stack of phonebooks"
Post by: Ghostavo on April 24, 2004, 06:58:04 pm
And a knife goes mach 3?
Title: "Sintered armorplast: feel like gritty jello, protects like a stack of phonebooks"
Post by: an0n on April 24, 2004, 07:00:37 pm
A knife can be stopped by a dodge or even a quick fore-arm defence.


And I'm going to assume that whole article is about non-newtonian liquids and not even bother clicking it.
Title: "Sintered armorplast: feel like gritty jello, protects like a stack of phonebooks"
Post by: Ghostavo on April 24, 2004, 07:08:18 pm
Not if it's close-quarters or by surprise that you are going to be hit.
Title: "Sintered armorplast: feel like gritty jello, protects like a stack of phonebooks"
Post by: Aspa on April 24, 2004, 07:12:33 pm
Weren't there something like this in the first Dune book, only with forcefields? In a knifefight, you had to stab people slowly so the shield wouldn't stop the knife?
Title: "Sintered armorplast: feel like gritty jello, protects like a stack of phonebooks"
Post by: mikhael on April 24, 2004, 07:18:46 pm
Quote
Originally posted by Ghostavo
And a knife goes mach 3?


It isn't REALLY the speed of the knife. ITs the force-applied-over-area thing. A knife concentrates a hell of a lot of force at the point during a stab.

Think of it more in terms of bullets. This stuff is nice and pliable to the kind of forces you can extert with your body. But its like "a stack of phonebooks" when it gets hit by a Desert Eagle. You're looking at 392 foot-pounds of force concentrated at the head of the bullet. You're looking at 56500 pounds of force per square inch. At this point, the armor plast goes rigid, protecting the wearer like he was wearing a thick steel plate. Yeah, he'll have a bruise, and maybe a broken rib or three, but that bullet isn't entering his flesh.

And yes, Dune style shields were exactly like this. :D
Title: "Sintered armorplast: feel like gritty jello, protects like a stack of phonebooks"
Post by: an0n on April 24, 2004, 07:40:30 pm
I think the easiest way of explaining it is: Think of sticking your hand into a packed tub of marbles.

If you try to push your fingers in quickly, you'll snap them because the marbles bat against each other and effectively form a solid block. But if you work them around and rattle the marbles, you slowly create a gap in the marbles that your fingers can go into.
Title: "Sintered armorplast: feel like gritty jello, protects like a stack of phonebooks"
Post by: mikhael on April 24, 2004, 07:42:10 pm
Good point. A bucket of sand is probably an even better analogy. :)
Title: "Sintered armorplast: feel like gritty jello, protects like a stack of phonebooks"
Post by: Setekh on April 25, 2004, 07:23:34 pm
Dude, this is silly putty! I played with this stuff when I was a kid in science class. :D

Well, not quite, the principle is similar. I hope this prevents more death than it causes. :yes:
Title: "Sintered armorplast: feel like gritty jello, protects like a stack of phonebooks"
Post by: Grey Wolf on April 25, 2004, 08:19:05 pm
So if it acts like Dune shields, does it explode when shot with a laser :p

On a more serious note, this seems rather interesting. I wonder how long it will be before it goes into full use.
Title: "Sintered armorplast: feel like gritty jello, protects like a stack of phonebooks"
Post by: Thorn on April 25, 2004, 09:39:28 pm
Quote
Originally posted by Ghostavo
And a knife goes mach 3?
Well, wouldnt they use this stuff along with the kevlar and the metal plate?
Title: "Sintered armorplast: feel like gritty jello, protects like a stack of phonebooks"
Post by: Rictor on April 25, 2004, 09:49:51 pm
Cool technology. I wonder how long it takes the Russians to make this armour a very expensive piece of obsolete trash :D:D Before it goes into service I'm betting...
Title: "Sintered armorplast: feel like gritty jello, protects like a stack of phonebooks"
Post by: Bobboau on April 25, 2004, 09:57:53 pm
do you mean by makeing a better armour, a better gun, or both?
Title: "Sintered armorplast: feel like gritty jello, protects like a stack of phonebooks"
Post by: mikhael on April 25, 2004, 11:21:01 pm
Quote
Originally posted by Grey Wolf 2009
So if it acts like Dune shields, does it explode when shot with a laser :p


Weren't those "lase guns" not "laser guns"?
Title: "Sintered armorplast: feel like gritty jello, protects like a stack of phonebooks"
Post by: phreak on April 25, 2004, 11:42:28 pm
so basically this is made using some antifreeze, sand and magic

w00t12 arm0r 4 m3 !!~1!~1
Title: "Sintered armorplast: feel like gritty jello, protects like a stack of phonebooks"
Post by: Ace on April 26, 2004, 12:28:37 am
Quote
Originally posted by mikhael


Weren't those "lase guns" not "laser guns"?


"las gun" which probably is a laser.
Title: "Sintered armorplast: feel like gritty jello, protects like a stack of phonebooks"
Post by: mikhael on April 26, 2004, 12:59:03 am
Dude. Laser pointers are going to be standard issue for Fremen. :D
Title: "Sintered armorplast: feel like gritty jello, protects like a stack of phonebooks"
Post by: Sandwich on April 26, 2004, 02:56:57 am
Beware the innocent passer-by with the keychain.
Title: "Sintered armorplast: feel like gritty jello, protects like a stack of phonebooks"
Post by: an0n on April 26, 2004, 06:57:11 am
:nervous:
Title: "Sintered armorplast: feel like gritty jello, protects like a stack of phonebooks"
Post by: Turambar on April 26, 2004, 07:18:55 am
theres no space, its lasgun.  

*points laser pointer at water and corn starch combination and waits for it to explode*



*still waiting*

*still waiting*

*BOOM!!
Title: "Sintered armorplast: feel like gritty jello, protects like a stack of phonebooks"
Post by: ZylonBane on April 26, 2004, 10:59:10 am
Quote
Originally posted by mikhael
You can make a version of this stuff with cornstarch and water.
The substance is often referred to as Oobleck (from the Dr. Seuss story, "Bartholomew and the Oobleck").

Basically what happens with a properly proportioned combination of cornstarch and water is that, at low pressures it flows like a liquid, but at high pressures the water molecules are forced out of suspension and the starch molecules lock together.

Fun stuff-- oozes everywhere, but you can hit the surface of it with a hammer and it won't splash. Yes, it'll even crack if the mix is just right. You can even pick some up and roll it into a ball... which collapses the moment you stop pressing on it.
Title: "Sintered armorplast: feel like gritty jello, protects like a stack of phonebooks"
Post by: an0n on April 26, 2004, 11:02:04 am
They did it on Braniacs. Filled a whole pool full of the stuff then had a guy walk around on it.

Then they told him to stop walking so the dumbass did. It took about 5 people to pull him out and he'd only sunk about 6 inches.
Title: "Sintered armorplast: feel like gritty jello, protects like a stack of phonebooks"
Post by: diamondgeezer on April 26, 2004, 11:31:25 am
Indeed. I'll never forget the day I saw John Tickle walk on that custard. He made Jesus' party stunts look half-arsed :nod:
Title: "Sintered armorplast: feel like gritty jello, protects like a stack of phonebooks"
Post by: Sandwich on May 03, 2004, 03:59:30 am
Quote
Originally posted by an0n
They did it on Braniacs. Filled a whole pool full of the stuff then had a guy walk around on it.

Then they told him to stop walking so the dumbass did. It took about 5 people to pull him out and he'd only sunk about 6 inches.


Got a title for that episode? I'd love to, ahh... read about it. :p
Title: "Sintered armorplast: feel like gritty jello, protects like a stack of phonebooks"
Post by: mikhael on May 03, 2004, 12:18:41 pm
You know, I'm saddened by the fact that I'm on a geeky damned web board and no one was able to identify the quote from a geeky damned novel.

*heh*
Title: "Sintered armorplast: feel like gritty jello, protects like a stack of phonebooks"
Post by: ZylonBane on May 03, 2004, 01:23:45 pm
Heavy Gear novels aren't the realm of geeks, they're the realm of NERDS.