Aluminum Foam - Better shock absorbent and defense against terrorism
Posted On Wednesday, November 14, 2007 at at 5:34 AM by Eddie
The concept of shock absorbent is to have a moving object striking the evenly spaced out foam that will distribute the energy over a large area, and therefore slowing down the object.
The material we use nowadays is called polystyrene. You can find it anywhere from car doors to bicycle helmets. It is known that metal foam can do the same amount of work as a polystyrene foam over a much smaller area. In practice, though, it has been impossible to manufacture metal foams - that is, until recently.
An Austrian company has made a breakthrough by adjusting the nanoscale oxide layers of the cell surface to molten the aluminum into evenly spaced out bubbles. "Cellular aluminum has a number of advantages that no other metal has," says Gerald Hogl, CEO of Schwarzenaubased Metcomb Nanostructures, "It's strong, light, energy absorbing, vibration and noise absorbing, non-toxic, and 100% recyclable."
This new technology will be used in making better armor for cars and buildings, but before all that, it is said that the first commercial application will be to protect people against terrorist attacks.
