Shooting a container of "non-Newtonian fluid"

[Tommygunn]

Be careful, you might make the non-Newtonian fluid angry, and then it'll come after you in your sleep! Check out the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zoTKXXNQIU

Ha ha! That was clever.
When I first read the title to this thread, my first reaction was; "what the ____ is non newtonian fluid??!!" Reading it, I recall learning about the cornstarch & water trick decades ago when I was in Jr. High School. We didn't call it "non newtonian fluid" but we did have some fun with it....

 

[Snowdog]

Try to capture the bullet if possible. If the mixture turns into a solid, there should be some evidence of this on the soft lead .22 slug.

I'm going to purchase some plumbers putty as suggested here. I'll pick up some cornstarch while I'm out.

 

[halfded]

Any quick final votes on solid vs. hollow point?

I only have one bottle of NN fluid at the ready.

Gonna put the bottle in front of my bullet box to see if I can catch the bullet without the box deforming it a whole lot. WE never seem to have any old phone books laying around.

 

[halfded]

The results are in..

and while interesting, are also kind of disappointing.

On to the pics:

Test subjects "A" and "B". Your average deer park water bottles. One filled with NN fluid, the other filled with tap water; both to the same level.


Subjects were set at a distance of 25 yards. In an attempt to catch the bullet I placed a rather thick stump behind the water bottle. The bullet passed directly through and was lost.

The NN fluid bottle was set in front of my DO-ALL bullet trap box, which stopped the bullet and also disintegrated it enough where it wasn't valid in the "experiment" anymore.

The round used was CCI's Small Game Bullet, or SGB. These little buggers zip along fast enough to put a nice dimple in my swinger targets from 50 yards.


The rifle used was my new Savage Mark II BTV:


The results were less than spectacular, but interesting nonetheless.

While the "exit wounds" were the same on both test subjects, as seen here:


The entry wounds were quite different. The water filled bottle had split in the front similarly to the rear in a lateral direction from the bullet hole. The NN filled bottle had a clean hole with no splitting of the bottle occurring, as seen here:


My theory is when the bullet first struck the bottle, the fluid changed to a rubbery solid which supported the plastic of the bottle but wasn't solid enough to stop the bullet or transmit enough energy to break apart. After the bullet strike, the NN fluid just leaked from the bottle like paint.

Silly putty might be a little more visually entertaining since it is already fairly solid and, from hearing about the sledgehammer incident, gets pretty hard pretty fast.

The only problem would be getting enough silly putty to fill a water bottle. Could get expensive..

 

[Snowdog]

Great report, Halfded! Too bad the bullet collected didn't yield much info on the fluid properties.
I'll try something similar but perhaps a slightly larger diameter bottle shot lengthwise with a JSP 9mm (S&B) or JSP .380 (Santa Barbara), something that likely won't expand in a liquid but might display some "smashing" effect if it encounters something that reacts as a solid.

I'll likely get the materials today. I'm looking at my wife's camera (Elph SD780 IS) and though tiny, I think it will take sufficient pictures. I'll take some pictures with my phone (HTC Eris) if I have to.

Again, good job on the test and photos!

 

[halfded]

I was thinking shooting the bottle lengthwise, aiming at the cap, might get a better result. I don't think it turns "solid, solid" more of a "rubbery solid" which might be enough to smash a soft point. Another point to ponder might be a LACK of expansion on a hollow point; maybe due either to the hollow becoming clogged with oobleck or the oobleck splitting allowing the bullet to "slip through".

The same effect is kind of demonstrated in the world of body piercing. An earlobe, nostril, etc. the flesh is cut along the path of the needle. A tongue, on the other hand, is a muscle; when the needle passes through, the fibers separate. The result is a wound that heals faster and is actually less painful. Hopefully that makes sense pertaining to the discussion at hand. Basically, I'm thinking the oobleck might split, never allowing the material to enter the hollow point and expand it.

I'll be curious to see the results on a larger scale though. I'm starting to think I should have used a hollow point. Be sure to set up some phone books or something to try and catch the bullet!

BTW, good luck filling a larger container. I used about 10oz of a 16 oz container to fill those 16oz (I think) bottles. It had to be mixed in 3 batches to ensure consistency.

 

[Shadow 7D]

um, cheap silly putty can be made from borax soap (20 mules, or just boric acid from a pharmacy (eyewash, maybe ear)) and plain old elmers white glue, but I don't know if it is non newtonian or not, just that after you mix it and wash it, it behaves like silly putty.

 

[Navy_Guns]

The borax + glue trick is the classic "slime" recipe. First, you mix white glue and water 50/50. Then take some borax and make a saturated solution (dissolve it in water until no more will dissolve). Then start adding your saturated borax solution to the thinned glue and mix it. Add a bit at a time until you get the desired consistency.

 

[Equestrian]

Silly putty can be had in bulk lots try these links
http://www.kk.org/cooltools/archives/000581.php
http://www.vern.com/putty/ordering/dow.html minimum order 100 lbs
it can be had en masse but you have to dig
might be cheap to order it in eggs or you could just make some of the knock off at home