NationStates Jolt Archive

Secret IC:
Somewhere on the coast of The Wickit Klownz
Our scientists have been hard at work trying to create the perfect armor for ground vehicles of all kinds. They recently found a way to create an indestructable metal/diamond hybrid, impervious to all modern ballistics. They have been trying to forge this metal unsuccessfully until now. it consists of synthetic diamond and titanium plates fused together on a cellullar level. It is far too heavy to use on aircraft, but it is usable on tanks, ships, and other similar vehicles which have been modified to carry the extra weight. we have tested them against every ballistics imaginable except those propelled by electromagnetic bursts, known as rail guns or pulse rifles. That is what we are here for today.

*points to a large battleship floating nearby, then to a wall of the new material*

I invited you all here today to witness the final test of this armor, which will be taking place now.

*grabs a radio*

"BattleShip Amber, this is Mooty, Over."

"Colonel Davidson here, Mr. President. Over."

"Get ready to fire at the new armor. Over."

"Ready and Awaiting order to fire, sir."

*turns to crowd* Get ready, Ladies and Gentlemen, this is the moment of truth.

"FIRE!!"

*the battleship fires two rounds at the new material*

"Cease fire, Amber."

*everyone walks over to the armor and inspects it. they find that the rounds were stopped halfway through the second layer of the armor*

It is a success, Ladies and Gentlemen. We now have the greatest military advantage ever. Our enemies wont know what hit them.

OOC: This is not for sale, and cannot be copied because none of you are capable of it... you need VERY specific equipment, or else it will NOT work, thats why it took us so long. the people who constructed this material in the first place are being held in a secret location, and they cannot be found... even i do not know where they are. I simply created this thread to back up that my nation created this material in the event of someone accusing me of godmoding. please tell me if i have made any mistakes at all by doing this.

BUMP for non-deletion

How can they be fused at a cellular level? Metal isnt made of cells, neither is diamond.

Fine then, Molecular level. Happy?

OOC: Trying to do that would require an enormous amount of energy, and the result isn't nearly as effective as a synthetic/titanium sandwich layer is.

Also, using diamond to reinforce a ship isn't cost effective. And it's kinda heavy too.

And Diamond is the most expensive thing on Earth, right now...

uhm, the diamond IS synthetic... reread the post...

Can you explain further, please? If you combine diamond [non-polar crystal lattice] with titanium [metallic lattice] you get a mess.

You can't fuse molecules of the stuff, to my knowledge, because they're not molecules per se. A diamond is just a three-dimentional pattern of carbon atoms. A metal is a series of atoms that 'pool' their electrons. The fundamental properties of both carbon (C) and titanium (Ti) are very different.

Of course, my knowledge of chemistry is not as great as it was when I was studying for the APs . . .

If you mean that you made a sandwich of titanium and diamond layers, then maybe it would be possible, although the result probably wouldn't be as strong as composites . . .

ok, heres the process (dont copy it)

1 get two pieces of titanium and a LOT of carbon

2 put the carbon on top of the lower slab of titanium

3 make synthetic diamond out of the carbon while it's on top of the titanium

4 put other slab of titanium on top of smooth synthetic diamond surface

5 get four metal plates the width and length of the completed slab and weld them to both of the outside titanium plates

6 attach to vehicle

So . . . you've made little bits of diamond that are now embedded in a slab of titanium [the titanium would melt from the heat and pressure]. Or you've got diamond that's covered with titanium . . .

actually, titanium's melting point is only 600 degrees Kelvin less than diamond

actually, titanium's melting point is only 600 degrees Kelvin less than diamond

What you're doing, is you're forcing carbon to assume a specific crystal shape in response to high pressure.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/horizon/2004/diamondlabs.shtml

I think you'd be better off just making medievalesque armor out of diamond . . .

My father is a jeweler.... I know what i'm talking about

It is indeed possible to make such an armor. However, if the diamond and titanium was made into nano tubes, bundeled, and then compressed, it would be much more effective. An incoming shell/missile/whatever would have to penetrate each fibre indevidually instead of penetrating a layered structure, which is vulnerable to cracking. Also, in the case of a nano fibre armor, the effect of combining diamond and titanium wouldn't be lost after a few well placed hits. Thermal and laser based weapons would melt the titanium, but would be dipersed by diamond. If the same area way hit by a kinetic energy weapon once the titanium was gone, it would destroy the diamond layer. Thus, by the fourth hit, there would be no armor protection in a small area. If both elements were evenly distributed throughout the armor, the diamond would disipate heat and light quickly enough to decrease the damage to the titanium. The titanium, which is very flexible, would also protect the diamond nano fibres from shatering.

My father is a jeweler.... I know what i'm talking about

Armor isn't just about "hardness". Tensile and ductile strength, conductivity, heat resistance.. and many other factors are present for "good" armor. You want armor to be able to bend, so it doesn't just shatter, etc etc. What you gave isn't good armor at all.

It is indeed possible to make such an armor. However, if the diamond and titanium was made into nano tubes, bundeled, and then compressed, it would be much more effective. An incoming shell/missile/whatever would have to penetrate each fibre indevidually instead of penetrating a layered structure, which is vulnerable to cracking. Also, in the case of a nano fibre armor, the effect of combining diamond and titanium wouldn't be lost after a few well placed hits. Thermal and laser based weapons would melt the titanium, but would be dipersed by diamond. If the same area way hit by a kinetic energy weapon once the titanium was gone, it would destroy the diamond layer. Thus, by the fourth hit, there would be no armor protection in a small area. If both elements were evenly distributed throughout the armor, the diamond would disipate heat and light quickly enough to decrease the damage to the titanium. The titanium, which is very flexible, would also protect the diamond nano fibres from shatering.

Carbon nanotubing and composites isn't really able to be considered "modern tech". It would never make it to military technology for another 10 years at the minumum.

If WE have the ideas for it all laid out... where do you think the military is at?

They're so far ahead, they've lapped us... twice.