Formula Strengthens Body Armor Against High-Speed Impacts

Current body armor does not protect against all high-speed impacts. Boron carbide is a synthetic material that ranks second below another synthetic material called cubic boron nitride for hardness. However, boron carbide is easier to produce on a large scale. Boron carbide is also harder and lighter than other armor materials like silicon carbide, making it an ideal choice for protective gear, especially ballistic vests. Boron carbide’s main shortcoming is that it can damage very quickly upon high-velocity impact. Now, researchers at Texas A&M University  have developed a process that can prevent weaknesses in body armor. By adding a tiny amount of the element silicon to boron carbide, they discovered that bullet-resistant gear could be made significantly more resilient to high-speed impacts.

Transcript

00:00:00 This is Genghis Khan, one of history's most successful warlords. Legends say he made his soldiers wear silk robes under their armor to help stop arrows from piercing through. But today's wars are no longer fought with arrows. Hence the need for stronger materials. Enter boron carbide. Known as Black Diamond it's one of the hardest man-made materials in the world. Let's hear what natural expert has to say. Boron carbide is lightweight and very hard making it an excellent

00:00:33 material for body armor applications. However, if the incoming bullet travels at a speed more than 900 meters per second, the boron carbide body armor will shatter like crazy. The reason is due to a process called amorphization. What we found in our study is that by putting small amount of silicon in boron carbide we were able to dramatically reduce amorphization. This observation will lead to the design of future body armor that exhibits further improved ballistic performance