Dadifer@lemmy.world to Technology@lemmy.worldEnglish · 1 day agoUS makes strongest-ever armor material with 100 trillion bonds/cm²interestingengineering.comexternal-linkmessage-square44fedilinkarrow-up1312
arrow-up1312external-linkUS makes strongest-ever armor material with 100 trillion bonds/cm²interestingengineering.comDadifer@lemmy.world to Technology@lemmy.worldEnglish · 1 day agomessage-square44fedilink
minus-squareAeonFelis@lemmy.worldlinkfedilinkEnglisharrow-up3·3 hours agoWhy don’t they just use diamond, the hardest metal?
minus-squarechaogomu@lemmy.worldlinkfedilinkEnglisharrow-up3·2 hours agoHardness isn’t the best thing to have in armor. In fact, extreme hardness means extreme brittleness. Tensile strength is more desirable in armor. That’s the sort of strength that a string or rope, or Kevlar will have. Those can stretch a bit before breaking. Kevlar will stretch a bit when catching a bullet, this does a few things, but importantly it slows the bullet before stopping it. So this new material will likely show extreme tensile strength rather than hardness.
Why don’t they just use diamond, the hardest metal?
Hardness isn’t the best thing to have in armor. In fact, extreme hardness means extreme brittleness.
Tensile strength is more desirable in armor. That’s the sort of strength that a string or rope, or Kevlar will have.
Those can stretch a bit before breaking.
Kevlar will stretch a bit when catching a bullet, this does a few things, but importantly it slows the bullet before stopping it.
So this new material will likely show extreme tensile strength rather than hardness.