Re: Scientists Working on Flexible Armor
Posted by Pasti on Apr 29, 2004 at 20:06
(65.95.49.125)Re: Scientists Working on Flexible Armor (Mike Kremer)
Well, that is not all there is to it.First note that there is not electrical feedback involved (required by such an electroviscous effect, or magneticoviscous effect, in the countrpart case).
The "hardening" part mentioned in the article is pretty much bull of some sort or another,there is nothing related to hardening.The viscosity of the fluid in the clothes allows a much higer dissipation rate of the energy of the projectile, provided speed and shear rates are properly matched.Which is a rather nice ideea.Except for the fact that one really needs a quite large quantity of fluid in his shorts in order for the latter to be bulletproof. It may be "flexible", but it is also the suit of the Michelin man.And the fact that it sustained an arrow is pretty lame,for the time being at least,since a bullet is much faster, beyond the speed of sound at the nozzle.