SpudFiles

i introduced the alu idea for the lightness of its composition...there is indeed a problem without the conservation of its shape...

You could try testing thixotropic armour. This is a liquid that turns hard when subjected to impact. It's easily made from cornflour and water. Make a reasonably gooey mixture and give it a good poke with your finger or a pencil or something......weird stuff.
On a programme called Brainiac they filled a swimming pool with custard (mostly cornflour) and somebody ran across it without sinking. When he stopped, he sank.
I heard somewhere they are thinking of using something similar as body armour for the military.

PS I wonder what sort of spudgun ammo it'd make

^thats a very interesting idea!

Yes it is,but also why the slant the armour on tanks is that fi a projectile is comming in straight there is twice as much this armour for it to penetrate btu this also causes the round to curve inwards when it hits so there for useless in design apart from small,light rounds.

^Slanted armour DOES offer more protection against the tungsten carbide bolts of armour piercing rounds than, say, vertical armour. That's why it's used. However, high explosive squash head (HESH) rounds to some extent overcome this by exploding on the outside of the armour and produce a shock that knocks off a large scab of metal on the inside......nasty.

what about shake charges?does anyone know anything about them and what they do?

MEN, you guys are on the wrong forum ....

I could talk all day about anti-tank rounds, but I'm not going to, because there are other things that will do it for me:

1) Google
2) Wikipedia
3) Any search engine really
4) That Uncle you have who recently spent time serving in the army.

Take one or all of the above, swallow with plenty of liquid, and if all else fails, call me in the morning.

The topic is about the armour, not the rounds. Yes, slanting the armour does something, but richochets don't prove anything about the penetrative resistance.

Just a suggestion.

Benny wrote:I think you should do what saladtosser said.
But, a very effective tank armour would be an armour that makes the projectile richochet off.

Yes richochet off or absorb the shock. If it were to slightly curve outward, it could divert some of the force

Slugfoot wrote:You could try testing thixotropic armour. This is a liquid that turns hard when subjected to impact....
PS I wonder what sort of spudgun ammo it'd make

it would probably shoot out sg-style all over the place and when it hit it would solidify, making an effective "destroy-it" ammo lol.

Problem statement:

Can Dilantant substances be used as effective armor?

Variables:

Dependant: depth of penetration
Independent: dilantant materials, thickness of materials

Procedure:

In this lab I will be using an air powered potato gun to shoot a wooden slug at different types of Dilantant substances.
Materials:
- cornstarch
- water
- PVC powder
- Aluminum powder
- Salt
- Hardwood rod
- At least a cubic foot of clay
- 5 gal plastic pail
- 3 belts
- air powered potato gun (remote firing capability, 1” barrel)
- ruler
- band saw
- lathe
- measuring cups
- bike pump/ air compressor
Methods:
- Spud cannon construction: I made my own design but you can find a similar one here: http://www.spudtech.com/content.asp?id=5
I will also make a stand to hold the cannon vertically.
- Wooden slug: lathe a wooden rod down to the inside diameter of 1” sch 40 PVC pipe, 5 inches long. Also it should have a rounded tip.
- Bucket: cut the 5 gal bucket in half (vertically) using the band saw.
- Dilantant substances: create a gallon of each substance with a to be determined ratio of powder to water.
Safety precautions:
- While mixing materials wear eye protection and a face mask.
- While firing gun, wear eye and ear protection
- Experiment should take place inside with all bystanders aware.
- Adult supervision
Procedure:
- Put clay into bottom of bucket (should fill bucket 6”)
- put the two bucket halves together
- tighten the 3 belts around the bucket
- pour in substance
- Load gun with wooden slug
- Position spud gun over bucket 4 inches away from surface
- pressurize spud gun to 50 psi (between 50-100 psi)
- stand back behind blast shield
- Remotely fire spud gun
- loosen belts and peel bucket halves off
- take slug out
- cut clay in half
- Measure/record dent
- repeat with all substances in thicknesses of 0”, 2”, 4”, 6”, 8”
- repeat with air (control)

The results of that lab were...?

havn't done it yet... it's for school so it starts at some date

Sounds like an interesting project, Why cant I get projects like that?

Wow, that is a long list of stuff to shoot at! Good luck. I would like to see some videos of the less predictible targets(cornstarch, ect...).