Posted on 12/10/2005 4:54:57 PM PST by Lorianne
An Israeli company has recently tested one of the most shock-resistant materials known to man. Five times stronger than steel and at least twice as strong as any impact-resistant material currently in use as protective gear, the new nano-based material is on its way to becoming the armor of the future.
A year ago IsraCast reported on the development of the first commercial nano-based lubricant which was developed by the Israeli company ApNano materials. A year later we find ApNano working also on a wholly different application of their technology - shielding and protection. In recent research lead by Prof. Yan Qiu Zhu of the School of Mechanical, Materials and Manufacturing Engineering at the University of Nottingham, England, a sample of the ApNano material was subjected to severe shocks generated by a steel projectile traveling at velocities of up to 1.5 km/second. The material withstood the shock pressures generated by the impacts of up to 250 tons per square centimeter. This is approximately equivalent to dropping four diesel locomotives onto an area the size of one’s fingernail. During the test the material proved to be so strong that after the impact the samples remained essentially identical compared to the original material. Additionally, a recent study by Prof. J. M. Martin from Ecole Central de Lyon in France tested the new material under isostatic pressure and found it to be stable up to at least 350 tons/cm2.
In the line of fire - creating super shock-resistant materials
In order to understand how it is possible to create this ultra-strong shock absorbing material we first need to understand the nature of the nano material developed by ApNano. In the early 1990's the Nano-materials Synthesis Group in the Weizmann institute headed by Professor Reshef Tenne, ApNano Chief Scientific Advisor, and recent winner of the Materials Research Society medal, together with Dr. Menachem Genut, currently the President and CEO of ApNano Materials, Prof. Gary Hodes and Dr. Lev Margulis, discovered a new class of inorganic nanostructures.
The group had found that certain inorganic compounds such as WS2, MoS2, TiS2 and NbS2 that normally occur as large flat platelets can be synthesized into much smaller nano-spheres and nano-tubes which they named inorganic fullerene-like nanostructures or IF for short. Fullerenes are a new form of carbon, other forms being diamond, graphite and coal. They are molecules composed entirely of carbon, taking the form of a hollow sphere, ellipsoid, or tube. Spherical fullerenes are sometimes called buckyballs, while cylindrical fullerenes are called buckytubes or nanotubes. Buckyballs are named after R. Buckminster Fuller, architect of the geodesic dome that he designed for the 1967 Montreal World Exhibition. IF materials are Fullerene-like materials but instead of being composed out of carbon they can be created from various other inorganic elements.
The new IF material produced by the Weizmann Group was made of Tungsten Disulfide (WS2). In contrast to organic Fullerenes, IF is easier and much less expensive to produce, it is chemically stable and is less reactive and consequently less flammable. Organic Fullerenes are also considered to be highly toxic while IF materials have been tested extensively and deemed safe. Tungsten Disulfide is relatively heavy and for that reason ApNano is currently experimenting with other materials such as Titanium Disulfide which is at least four times lighter and is expected to perform even better than Tungsten Disulfide against shock waves. One of the most interesting new IF properties discovered by ApNano is its extremely high degree of shock absorbing ability. Shock absorbing materials are commonly used in impact resistant applications such as ballistic protection personal body armor, bullet proof vests, vehicle armor, shields, helmets, and protective enclosures. The new Tungsten based IF material has up to twice the strength of the best impact resistant materials currently used in protective armor applications such as boron carbide and silicon carbide, and are over 5 times stronger than steel. It is also possible to combine IF with other substances in order to expand their rage of capabilities. For instance, mixing IF with highly elastic materials can lead to new compounds which are both flexible and shock-absorbing. These properties position IF materials as one of the best candidates for future protective gear and armor.
Currently ApNano can manufacture only a few kilograms of the new material a day at their lab in Nes Ziona. In an interview by IsraCast, Dr. Menachem Genut, ApNano CEO, explained that the company is moving into semi-industrial manufacturing within the next six months producing between 100-200 kilograms of the material per day, gradually moving to full-scale industrial production by 2007, creating several tons each day. Although it is currently still hard to determine the exact price of the "nano-armor" when in full industrial production, given the cost of the original materials (Tungsten Disulfide, Titanium Disulfide, etc.) and the relatively low production costs, Dr. Genut stated that a kilogram of the new material will cost considerably less than a similar amount of the carbon-based Fullerenes. More field testing will need to be carried out before the nano-armor can be declared commercial but the company is optimistic that with some external financial backing it will be possible to have the first product ready in less then three years.
I want one.....
OUCH!
This leads me to believe that their initial marketing direction will be toward fake fingernails.
Anyone bought a bucket of Fullerines lately?
The first thing I thought of was that I want the Israelis to manufacture these exclusively. And put big country-of-origin marks on them, so that our friends in the Arab world can either advertise Israel, or do without.
For "security" purposes, it will probably only be made available to police and armed forces. Then they will become even more authoritarian.
I wonder if the next step is a reactive armor overcoat. It seems that this material will withstand a tremendous force, but that force could still kill you from the shock.
Ping
LOL! That could eventually put my ex-wife out of business.
(sinister, evil laugh)
lots of talk about its strength, but what's its weight
Let's say, the weight is moderate - comparable to the existing bulletproof vests. They are talking about nanofibers made of strong inorganic materials, which nanofibers would be then processed into some sort of a fabric.
How soon can we get this stuff in production? How about if we do the battlefield testing?
Rumsfeld, are you listening?????
Holy shnikes! Thats a lot of stopping power!
Actually, they have plunged in cost in the last 15 years. Initially, they were selling for more than a dollar a milligram.
...Until it began to appear their ony use was Grant Applications and SBIR "Nano" proposals.
Then, along came "Nanotubes", and like chickens chasing the last-dropped piece of corn, these were breathlessly touted for all manner of miracles, etc..etc. the Buckyballs forgotten for the moment.
This led to the ultimate Buzz-within-a Buzzword, "Nanotube Hydrogen Storage", thus employing simultaneously two hot pieces of scambait( Well maybe a bit harsh, but some of us remember the dot.bomb.boom and bust). I know this was going around the DoE meeting in DC around 2000 or so.
Most of the schemes ony stored a maximum of 4 H's to one Carbon...The same ratio as methane, though some wild claims were made.(The Marijuana Tax Act of 1934 notwithstanding.)
In short, be entertained by these stories, but if investing, go through the company's dumpster a few times, first.
Since I may retire this year from the R&D game, I no longer care, and regret any complicity in this stuff I have had.
This does not guarantee it will become the next generations of armor. There are also concerns such as melting point, and affordibility. This also applies to ALON, which was invented recently considered to replace current windshields with lighter weight, but costs more with difficulties for assembly.
Interesting ping.
As an addition, I see rare metal used as a component. This will probably not be widely used since rare metals are less availible than other metals resulting in rise of cost.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.