Elite roleplay: Q&A and OOC

A C Ender
12 Oct 2020, 8:35pm
I just came to think of a neat evolution of soft body armour - To have it lined with a thin layer of dilatant liquid to act as a shock absorber and spread the force of the impact of a larger area. It might be tuned in such a way that human speed shear/strain rates (bending your legs rapidly) won't harden it, where high speed projectiles subject it to enough strain to harden it. You'd still want the fibre layer (kevlar, etc) to actually stop the bullet, but the thin liquid layer to work as a shock absorber which allow increased mobility to padding. You'd still bruise/break ribs etc but it would stop you getting (as much) cloth pushed into your body.

Example of how a dilatant liquid behaves

You'd want something that's less viscosity liquid than that, but with higher shear strength to absorb the impact into a larger area around it. It would probably be a big material science challenge to have both strong long molecules in the liquid, yet low viscosity up to high strain rates where it go solid.
Artie
13 Oct 2020, 11:23pm
Just a note for CrappedMySlacks: Welcome to RP board section. Please take a look on the rest of the already existing RP posts and please also read the RP rules there. There are useful tips and hints how to "perform" roleplaying on Inara. I have removed your recent post in the bar, but feel free to reformulate it to fit in there, as a good RP post.
Viscera
14 Oct 2020, 7:27am
@ender.

You have just described the properies of custard powder my friend.
A C Ender
14 Oct 2020, 12:20pm
I know that many household items are non-newtonian fluids (ketchup and toothpaste being pseudoplastic aka goes thinner with shear-rate - that's why it work to shake and squeeze it out so well) and corn starch dissolved in water being the opposite (dilatant).

That doesn't make the behaviour less useful (and I don't trust the properties of your custard body armour...).

Apparently there's already a dilatant which can be used as liquid body armour: silica nanoparticles in a solution of polyethylene glycol.

Last edit: 14 Oct 2020, 12:36pm
A C Ender
14 Oct 2020, 12:47pm

See this video
Viscera
14 Oct 2020, 1:51pm
[quote=A C Ender(and I don't trust the properties of your custard body armour...).
[/quote]

A million clowns would disagree with you.
Synthya Wylder
14 Oct 2020, 2:00pm
A C Ender
14 Oct 2020, 2:34pm
Didn't know about that one, that's cool.
Synthya Wylder
14 Oct 2020, 3:22pm
A C Ender
See this video


I think, considering what's included in your link, & that being current RL technology, surely in E:D timeline, some kind of similar flexible dynamic personal armor would be plausible.
A C Ender
14 Oct 2020, 6:52pm
I believe so too. Having the fibres "immersed" in the liquid in the video was a neat solution, and there's definitely room for more materials science in there. Different particles, different fibres, different liquid. Do you want the fibres to interact with the particles and liquid too perhaps? Maybe you can use a slight electric impulse to trigger the hardening to cause a larger are to absorb the impact? Definitely, almost over 1000 years in the future, something would have improved from what we can do now.
Synthya Wylder
16 Oct 2020, 10:16am
Well, it appears as if the Station Administrator's 'special order' item has finally arrived.
Amata Lirein
16 Oct 2020, 10:40am
Synthya WylderWell, it appears as if the Station Administrator's 'special order' item has finally arrived.


Huh? What? Where?
Sakashiro
16 Oct 2020, 12:40pm
Amata Lirein
16 Oct 2020, 12:45pm
Ah, yes, I saw that. I was under the impression that Synthya had continued her story though as the last chapter ended with an administrator ordering one of those, hence the confusion.
Sparlin007
16 Oct 2020, 2:55pm
Synthya WylderWell, it appears as if the Station Administrator's 'special order' item has finally arrived.


Somehow, I was still surprised that it was a fake account, even though I already knew.

Post a reply

You must be signed in to post here.
Anything you want to ask about roleplay. Questions, answers, out-of-character talk...