February 24, 2017 | 0 Comments

This foam stops bullets cold and pulverizes them to dust

“Foam body armor? Even armor-piercing bullets cannot get through this foam.

And the foam doesn’t just stop bullets. It destroys them…this foam decimates bullets into dust.

North Carolina State University Professor Afsaneh Rabiei led the team that created the amazing foam.

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.

The military and law enforcement could use this kind of foam for advanced, ultra light body armor to protect personnel.

And this research team has other foams up its sleeve that have the potential to keep military and first responders safe from radiation and extreme heat too.

BULLET V. FOAM

Sound impossible that foam-based armor could stop armor piercing rounds? Testing has proved it is indeed possible.

In tests conducted by the development team, the foam body armor was able to defeat an armor-piercing bullet. And on impact, their foam smashed the bullet into powder.

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 backplates – 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.

How well did it work?

Their foam absorbed the bullet’s kinetic energy.

The foam worked so well that an armor-piercing round could only penetrate less than an inch on the weapon-facing side of the shield.

On the side facing the warfighter’s body, the bullet was only able to cause an 8 mm indentation on the back .

Body armor innovation is important because it can save lives.

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.”