New Lightweight Foam Material Can Withstand Impact of .50 Caliber Rounds


New Lightweight Foam Material Can Withstand Impact of .50 Caliber Rounds

TEHRAN (Tasnim) - A lightweight type of foam made of hollow metallic spheres has been demonstrated by scientists that can withstand the incredible impact of armor-piercing .50 caliber rounds.

The finding means that vehicle designers will be able to develop lighter military vehicles without sacrificing safety, or can improve protection without making vehicles heavier, Science Alert reported.

While weighing only about half as much as conventional steel armor, this engineered material – called composite metal foam (CMF) – protects just as effectively against these deadly projectiles, even when tested against armor-piercing ballistics.

"The CMF armor was less than half the weight of the rolled homogeneous steel armor needed to achieve the same level of protection," says engineer and materials scientist Afsaneh Rabiei from North Carolina State University (NCSU).

"In other words, we were able to achieve significant weight savings – which benefits vehicle performance and fuel efficiency – without sacrificing protection."

Rabiei helped lead the development of composite metal foam at NCSU about 15 years ago, and these days heads up the university's Advanced Materials Research Lab (AMRL).

In the lab, her team spends a lot of time experimenting, trying to figure out just what this metallic foam is capable of.

CMF, which is manufactured using patented processes, is fabricated from metals including aluminum and steel, which are riddled with hollow air pockets throughout, like other kinds of foam.

In previous research, Rabiei's team has shown CMF can do things like obliterate medium-size bullets, protected against the blast of high-explosive rounds, in addition to shielding against fire, heat, and a number of kinds of rays and radiation.

In the new work, the researchers wanted to see how CMF would cope against the deadly force of .50 calibre rounds measuring 12.7 x 99 mm – among the largest kinds of bullets commonly used in conventional machine guns and long-range rifles.

Their experiments consisted of firing ball and armor-piercing .50 caliber rounds at the CMF, at speeds from 500 meters per second up to 885 meters per second.

In the tests, the CMF acted as an active core in the armor, covered by a ceramic faceplate at the front, with a thin back plate of aluminum.

The results showed that the CMF layer can absorb 72–75 percent of the kinetic energy of the ball rounds, and absorbed 68–78 percent of the kinetic energy of the armor-piercing rounds – and prevented projectile penetration at speeds up to 819 meters per second.

While the researchers say there's still room to optimize the material, it's amazing to think that this engineered foam filled with pockets of air is able to stop projectiles travelling at over 800 meters per second.

"There is additional work we could do to make it even better," says Rabiei.

"For example, we would like to optimize the adhesion and thickness of the ceramic, CMF and aluminum layers, which may lead to even lower total weight and improved efficiency of the final armor."

Even in its current form, we're looking at a kind of engineered material that can stop some of the deadliest bullets used in war – and in a material that weights only half as much as standard protection, meaning things like military vehicles could be lighter, and more maneuverable.

It's pretty clear there's a desperate need for these kinds of material advantages – as long as arms manufacturers keep making bullets, that is.

Most Visited in Space/Science
Top Space/Science stories
Top Stories