Air Force Academy cadet creates bulletproof substance

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Saw that on Fox news tonight.....Very cool. Now because she's in the Air Force I think that the U.S.A.F. will have patent rights. That's S.O.P. in a lot of private industry and I'm sure it applies to Uncle Sam also, don't it?
 
But it's not going to stop rifle bullets as well as the ceramic plate. Don't mean to be negative...but don't hold your breath for this one. Reminds me of all the hoop-la about 'Dragon Skin' a while back. Meh...http://www.professionalsoldiers.com/files/dragon_skin_release_000121may07.pdf

Stopping the bullet from penetrating isn't all that hard to do...it's the spreading of the force so the soft jello person right behind that bullet doens't suffer from the impact. This Cadet thinks she 'invented' something? Let's wait and see how it develops...but if I were a betting man, I'd short this one.
 
The cadet developed a cake-like substance that hardens with massive (resistance to) force.
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Sounds like a girl I dated many years ago. Poor thing had to dissemble the smoke detector to cook a meal.... As I am always trying to be helpful I told her she could also just cover it with a plastic bag to save some time.
 
So...this concept was developed over 5 years ago by BAE....https://www.geek.com/geek-cetera/lightweight-body-armor-uses-liquid-to-stop-bullets-1481407/ but where are all the current applications of it? Must have run into a snag or two...eh?

The whole deal where a Cadet 'invents' something...just means they're either not aware of what has been done before them or they're just trying to pad an ego. Years ago I got a phone call from a GM engineer (junior...working between semesters) who was all excited that they'd 'invented' titanium valves!! Yep...they'd spent millions of dollars working on them...and I asked him why they didn't just buy them from Manley or the others being sold on the market? Total silence on the other end of the phone. Then I proceeded to tell him that drag racers had been using them for at least 10 years (this was early '90's) and even NASCAR engines had them inside. Nobody there had even thought to do some research to see if such a thing was already available...they just thought that because they thought of it...and they were of course smarter than everyone else...that they'd come up with something unique and proceeded to reinvent the wheel...as it were. I know...you think this is crazy talk and nobody could be that dumb...but I swear it's true.
 
Right, this isn't a new concept at all. That the chemistry teacher nearly broke his finger is either a complete fabrication or he is a crappy chemistry teacher. Non-newtonian fluids are a common junior high/high school experiment in chemistry/science classes.

IIRC, this has been done before. The problem for the vest will be to keep the liquid distributed properly throughout the vest for it to work. Also, vests will have to be liquid proof and not leak.

Here we go...Poland was working on this in 2015...
http://www.popsci.com/poland-develops-bulletproof-liquid-armor
 
"...just cover it with a plastic bag..." Or clean her stove/oven.
"...Cadet thinks she 'invented' something..." That's been done by Bill Nye, et al for eons. The kid's been reading too much Dale Brown. Not that doing that is actually possible. snicker.
 
Double Naught Spy wrote:
The problem for the vest will be to keep the liquid distributed properly throughout the vest for it to work. Also, vests will have to be liquid proof and not leak.
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Depending on the viscosity of the fluid, that may not be a problem. Remember, glass is a fluid and we not only don't have to put it into a "liquid proof" container, glass is itself used as a container for less viscous fluids.
 
RecoilRob wrote:
This Cadet thinks she 'invented' something?
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So...this concept was developed over 5 years ago by BAE...
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The OP says that the invention has been patented. I didn't hear a reference to that in the linked video, but if the OP is correct that it has been patented then it's a prima facie case that she did "invent" something. And the issuance of the patent also establishes that the "something" differs from prior art.
 
The concept of using shear thickening non-Newtonian fluids for for armor is certainly not new, even Mythbusters has attempted it, but if she has really found a new compound with the "right" properties it will be a real break-through!

The invention will be the material, not the concept.
 
I don't mean to be negative, but I think what we're seeing here is a plug for social justice. Kind of like clock boy got credit for "inventing" a clock when all he did was take an off the shelf unit and make it look like a bomb.

All she did was "discover" the most well known property of non newtion fluid. This is middle school level stuff here. I also can't help but think someone long before this has tried to leverage that property to make armor. This is on the level of me calling up IBM and telling them to make a computer using tertiary code, then claiming credit for inventing a "super computer."

And I also can't help but point out that a level IIIa vest will stop a .44 magnum and is extremely light, flexible, and, by comparison, breathable. So it doesn't seem like they've invented anything new, as they haven't improved upon past attempts to make non newtonian armor as far as I can tell.
 
It's no new technology to stop a 44 Mag with a lightweight vest...the trick is trying to keep it from punching the vest 6" deep into your chest. Sure...it didn't allow the bullet to pass through...but you're still in a world of hurt. Notice in the video provided in the OP where they show it stopping the 44 against the gel block that it drives it deep...and they stop the show before it gets to the end of travel because even somebody who doesn't know anything about vests would notice that having that thing punched that deep into you wouldn't seem like such a victory.

The ceramic plates spread the impact wide enough to prevent most internal damage, and unless the Non-Newtonian fluid can instantly turn to something harder than steel it's not going to work so well. BAE poured lots of money into the research, as have the Poles and probably a dozen others all around the world...without positive results. But some female Cadet and her helpful professor have solved the puzzle!! Good for them!:)
 
RecoilRob said:
It's no new technology to stop a 44 Mag with a lightweight vest...the trick is trying to keep it from punching the vest 6" deep into your chest. Sure...it didn't allow the bullet to pass through...but you're still in a world of hurt. Notice in the video provided in the OP where they show it stopping the 44 against the gel block that it drives it deep...and they stop the show before it gets to the end of travel because even somebody who doesn't know anything about vests would notice that having that thing punched that deep into you wouldn't seem like such a victory.

The ceramic plates spread the impact wide enough to prevent most internal damage, and unless the Non-Newtonian fluid can instantly turn to something harder than steel it's not going to work so well. BAE poured lots of money into the research, as have the Poles and probably a dozen others all around the world...without positive results. But some female Cadet and her helpful professor have solved the puzzle!! Good for them!:)
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They'll probably give her an honorary doctorate. In any case, it's always good to see the Army using taxpayer money to conduct sixth grade science experiments in the name of social justice.:scrutiny:
 
22250Rem said:
Saw that on Fox news tonight.....Very cool. Now because she's in the Air Force I think that the U.S.A.F. will have patent rights. That's S.O.P. in a lot of private industry and I'm sure it applies to Uncle Sam also, don't it?
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It all depends on whose time the invention was created on. If you are working for the USG and develop something patentable while in the course of that work, the right to that patent are assigned to the USG. If you do it on your own time, the rights are yours.

In this case, it seems it was developed while in the course of her studies at the USAFA so the USG has rights. However, I believe that if private industry uses the patent in other than contracts with the Government, she can get royalties.
 
I doubt this will go very far, not until somebody discovers/invents/patents a way to keep the non-newtonian mixture evenly distributed in a vest that retains the ability to be flexible, strong, and leak proof. As noted in the article above, this stuff (in a different version, which is undoubtedly how the patent here was attained) has been around for years as armor developed by several groups, sort of like each time a patent is given for a different type of nylon thread that is used in armor). The ironic thing is that OUR Army already did this back in 2010 (see the article I cited above). Do y'all see anyone wearing non-newtonian liquid filled body armor around?
 
I'm having a hard time understanding the negativity towards this young air force cadet.

If my daughter had worked hard and spent her time learning, and successfully recreated someone else's work on her way to getting a scholarship at a respected University, I'd be very proud.

So what if a news organization did a TV story on it? Don't we wish our young people to work hard, learn hard, better themselves, and become a self supporting person in society? Shouldn't we see more of these stories versus the constant onslaught of crime and terrorist activity?

I say good for her.
 
All she did was "discover" the most well known property of non newtion fluid.
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Perhaps a bit off topic, but shear thickening is much less common than shear thinning -- which is commercially extremely important in paints and applied coatings.

Since its fundamentally a fluid, its ultimate strength will be low compared to things like Kelvar bu tif she has really found a compound with the "right" properties it would be a break-through I doubt anyone would complain about body armor that had the same effectiveness at half the weight. OTOH the video of the .44Mag shot looked like the back-face deformation would more than enough for serious injury, so I'd hesitate to say it was "effective" just because the round didn't penetrate.
 
hdwhit said:
The OP says that the invention has been patented. I didn't hear a reference to that in the linked video, but if the OP is correct that it has been patented then it's a prima facie case that she did "invent" something. And the issuance of the patent also establishes that the "something" differs from prior art.
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You can patent a ham sandwich. It doesn't mean anything anymore. The patent office is so busy it's ridiculous.
 
chicharrones said:
I'm having a hard time understanding the negativity towards this young air force cadet.

If my daughter had worked hard and spent her time learning, and successfully recreated someone else's work on her way to getting a scholarship at a respected University, I'd be very proud.

So what if a news organization did a TV story on it? Don't we wish our young people to work hard, learn hard, better themselves, and become a self supporting person in society? Shouldn't we see more of these stories versus the constant onslaught of crime and terrorist activity?

I say good for her.
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I agree. I'm not a scientist or engineer, so a story like this intrigues me.
 
chicharrones said:
I'm having a hard time understanding the negativity towards this young air force cadet.

If my daughter had worked hard and spent her time learning, and successfully recreated someone else's work on her way to getting a scholarship at a respected University, I'd be very proud.

So what if a news organization did a TV story on it? Don't we wish our young people to work hard, learn hard, better themselves, and become a self supporting person in society? Shouldn't we see more of these stories versus the constant onslaught of crime and terrorist activity?

I say good for her.
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The negativity is directed toward the story concept and content. The story is pretty stupid and her chemistry teacher appears to be an idiot. The story makes it appear that she taught her chemistry teacher about non-newtonian fluids and that she has done something new, never been done before, only it has been done numerous times before and it is unlikely that the chemistry teacher is an idiot with no knowledge of non-newtonian fluids. I highly doubt she came up with her version without knowledge of the other versions already out there.

So what if the news did a story on it? Like so much of the news, it has been crafted to appear to be more than it is.
 
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