Carbon nanotube armor getting closer...

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WarNerd 9/23/2009 4:45:58 AM

Carbon nanotubes look to have almost limitless applications, if we can scale up production fast enough.

Some of the other application they are exploring on the company's web site, such as replacing copper wire with nanotubes, could have massive effects on the world economy.

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FJV 9/23/2009 3:38:36 PM

Makes me think about predictions about using composite reinforcements for concrete bridges. That prediction looks sensible, until you realize that about half the cost of a bridge are material costs. The fact that steel and concrete are the cheapest materials available and composites are expesive means that we will be building bridges from steel and concrete for a long time.

I suspect a similar effect with this material, that is: for a lot of applications it will not be able to compete on cost.

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WarNerd 9/25/2009 6:31:28 AM

Makes me think about predictions about using composite reinforcements for concrete bridges. That prediction looks sensible, until you realize that about half the cost of a bridge are material costs. The fact that steel and concrete are the cheapest materials available and composites are expensive means that we will be building bridges from steel and concrete for a long time.

I suspect a similar effect with this material, that is: for a lot of applications it will not be able to compete on cost.

Construction codes are very rigid, extremely conservative, and a product of local politics. If I remember right it took something like 40 years to get the majority of the building codes amended to allow the use of precast concrete pieces in general construction without a special exemption.

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mabie 9/26/2009 7:48:43 AM

Is this really that impressive? A pistol round still manages to penetrate 2/3rds thru nanotube material. How is this an improvement over kevlar or something else out there now?

link...
(also see: Nanocomptech.com)

"In April, Lashmore had a mechanical multicaliber gun shoot bullets at different versions of his sheet, each less than a fifth of an inch thick, at a speed of 1,400 feet per second. Four sheets were breached, but three showed no damage. Lashmore and his 35 employees were ecstatic."

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buzzard 9/30/2009 5:12:48 PM

Some of the other application they are exploring on the company's web site, such as replacing copper wire with nanotubes, could have massive effects on the world economy.

This is really huge if it comes through. A number of big copper mines have been running down in production. To be able to replace it with just carb (which is common as hell), would do wonders.

It's a great testament to innovation that when people think they are running out of something, ingenuity find a way around it.

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Tenebrioun 3/19/2010 9:59:28 AM

The impressive part is that it's only a fifth of an inch thick. Do you know how thick kevlar armor has to be. Carbon nanotube armor of the same thickness would be nigh unpenetrable by small arms fire and even some high powered rifles. Of course until they figure out to make a bullet from it.

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WarNerd 3/20/2010 6:38:43 AM

The carbon nanotube armor is also less dense, so weight savings will be even greater than the reduction in bulk.

You would still need to include the ceramic plates to break up and spread the impact for rifle rounds. It does not do much good to stop a bullet if the blunt trauma still sends pieces of your ribs slicing through your lungs and heart.

Don't worry about bullets made from nanotube materials. The properties are all wrong, especially the density.

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