Foam body armor

We have talked about liquid body armor and Graphene armor, which are new products of the new technological revolution. Today let me introduce you another new creation Foam body armor.

Foam body armor is designed and developed by North Carolina State University Professor Afsaneh Rabiei who led his team created the amazing foam. According to Afsaneh Rabiei, the foam doesn’t just stop bullets. It destroys them…this foam decimates bullets into dust, and even armor-piercing bullets cannot get through this foam.

Actually, this is not ordinary foam like the kind used for shaving, for example. This is a special type of foam called composite metal foams, or CMF.

To challenge the foam material with bullets, the team built a shield. The strike face - the side facing the weapon - was made with the new composite metal foam together with boron carbide ceramics. The back plates – the side that would face the user - were made of Kevlar.

In tests, the team shot at the foam body armor with 7.62 x 63 mm M2 armor-piercing round. It turned out that the foam stopped the bullets by absorbing the bullet’s kinetic energy with only a less than an-inch indentation on the weapon-facing side of the shield.

The National Institute of Justice standard allows up to 44 mm indentation from a bullet on side facing the user– so the foam performs 80 percent better than the maximum standard.

In addition, this foam is also able to stop and block X-rays, and even protect against various forms of gamma rays.

HOW IS IT MADE?

In basic terms, the foam is a composite metal foam. To make it, the team takes molten metal and bubbles gas through it. This process creates a sort of froth. When the froth cools, it becomes a lightweight, ultra-strong matrix material.

At present, it has great potential to come into bulletproof field. The military and law enforcement could use this kind of foam for advanced, ultra-light body armor to protect themselves.

Current protection options tend to be very cumbersome, awkward and heavy. The foam shielding could provide a lightweight, strong alternative for the military. It could also have potential for transportation and storage of hazardous materials.