Air Force Academy cadet creates bullet-stopping gravy body armour

engineering careers  Air Force Academy cadet creates bullet-stopping gravy body armour

After a year of research and 20 attempts to get the material right, an Air Force Academy cadet has developed goo which can enhance existing types of body armour.

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The goo is essentially a thin layer of gravy. That’s right – the new material appears not to be that different from the cornstarch-thickened substance you are probably familiar with.

Hayley Weir came up the idea after a professor had asked cadets to think up ways to stop a pistol bullet. In the class, she was shown the epoxy, Kevlar, and carbon fibre to use to create a material that could stop a bullet.

The mix of these materials instantly reminded her of  Oobleck, a non-Newtonian fluid.

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Weir was reminded of Oobleck, a non-Newtonian fluid (above).

Oobleck thickens when force is applied and is made of cornstarch and water. It is named after a substance from a Dr. Seuss book.

Teaming up with Ryan Burke, a military and strategic studies professor at the academy, she began work on a new fluid in 2016.

Weir would make prototype substances using a KitchenAid mixer and plastic utensils. Prototype packs were then made up in vacuum-sealed bags and inserted into Kevlar.

After much development, the material was able to stop a 9 mm round, a .40 Smith & Wesson round, and a .44 Magnum round (these gigantic bullets have been used to hunt elephants). All of these rounds were fired at close range.

The materials non-Newtonian properties mean the harder the bullet’s impact, the more the molecules in the material responded, yielding better resistance as well as using 75% less fabric than standard military-style body armour.

She is currently working on further optimising the concept.


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