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Superman Suit: Futuristic Body Armor

Superman Suit: Futuristic Body Armor. Presented By: Jonathan Boulanger Emma Lecours Sarah Xu Megan Swain. Outline. Current bulletproof vests Why put carbon nanotubes in bulletproof vests? Experimental testing Extension to macroscopic Conclusion. Current Bullet-Proof Vests.

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Superman Suit: Futuristic Body Armor

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  1. Superman Suit: Futuristic Body Armor Presented By: Jonathan Boulanger Emma Lecours Sarah Xu Megan Swain

  2. Outline • Current bulletproof vests • Why put carbon nanotubes in bulletproof vests? • Experimental testing • Extension to macroscopic • Conclusion

  3. Current Bullet-Proof Vests • Made of layered fibrous material • Absorbs and disperses the energy of the projectile • Slows and stops the bullet

  4. Current Materials • Kevlar • Many strong bonds between chains • Twaron • nearly identical chemical structure to Kevlar • Dyneema (Ultra high molecular weight polyethylene) • extremely long polymer chains (n>100 000) • load transferred to polymer backbone

  5. Problems with Current Bullet-Proof Vests • Wearer is forced to absorb the energy of the projectile • Blunt force trauma can occur • wind knocked out of the wearer • bruising of the skin • injuries to the internal organs (possibly fatal) • Superior vest would deflect the energy of the bullet away from the wearer

  6. Why Carbon Nanotubes? • High modulus of elasticity (~1 TPa) • High strain to yield (up to 40% in tensile) • Multiple deformation modes: • Elongation of hexagonal structure • High defect mobility of 5-7 ring defects • Stepwise diameter reduction • Tube collapse • Necking

  7. Carbon Nanotube Deformation [2]

  8. Experimental Procedure • Computer simulation to model nanotube deformation • Uses Tersoff-Brenner potential • Diamond bullet

  9. Maximum absorption energy • Highest in center of fixed end CNT • Does not vary significantly with radius • Varies linearly with length of nanotube

  10. Absorption Energy • Bounce back time the same • Needs 12.5ps to ‘recover’

  11. Extension to Macroscopic Applications • Variations in atomic structure of CNTs with same diameters only depend on their different lengths. • Macroscopic response can be approximated from microscopic calculations. • A revolver bullet typically has a damage area of 0.652 cm^2 and energy of 320J. • If a bundle (yarn) has a 100 μm diameter (5 X 10^9 nanotubes ), it should be able to absorb 0.344J. • Therefore 6 layers of woven fabric composed of 180 nanotube yarns (0.9cm) will be sufficient, which corresponds to a thickness of 600 μm

  12. Conclusions • Carbon nanotubes have great potential • Large capacity to store elastic energy without deforming • Repeated impacts possible (12.5 ps limit) • Only computer simulations so far • According to assumptions, will scale well into the macroscale • If assumptions hold, 600 μm woven CNT yarns will be sufficient to repel bullets

  13. References • Ajayan, P. M. (1999). Nanotubes from carbon. Chemical Reviews, 99(7), 1787. • Mylvaganam, K., & Zhang, L. C. (2007). Ballistic resistance capacity of carbon nanotubes. Nanotechnology, 18(47), 475701.

  14. Questions?

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