ShareThe X-Flex wallpaper system, which may see service in Iraq and Afghanistan, offers a new way to protect existing construction from explosions.
From PopSci:
X-Flex bonds so tightly, it helps walls keep their shape after blast waves. Two layers are strong enough to stop a blunt object, like a flying 2×4, from knocking down drywall. During our tests, just a single layer kept a wrecking ball from smashing through a brick wall. The wallpaper’s strength and ductility is derived from a layer of Kevlar-like material sandwiched by sheets of elastic polymer wrap. The combination works so well that the Army is now considering wallpapering bases in Iraq and Afghanistan. Civilians could soon start remodeling too—Berry Plastics plans to develop a commercial version next year.
[X-Flex System via PopSci]
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Michael Finch. Michael Finch said: Bombproof wallpaper? http://bit.ly/9fDs3v […]
I hope the product works and gets to the market quickly.
Ben Koshkin
I hope the product works and gets to the market quickly.
Ben Koshkin
This is just stupid and misleading. A simple piece of fabric would do the exact same job. And a steel ball is not a bomb…
@ab – I take it you are an engineer… Actually, if you have a rudimentary understanding of the physics of explosions you will know that bombs, particularly the improvised explosive devices favored in places like Iraq, do most of their damage with shrapnel.
During an explosion, you obviously get heat – a regular wall can stop that; you get the actual force of the blast (which can be simulated by a wrecking ball); and you get flying projectiles. This wallpaper will protect from the last two. Obviously it won’t help a whole lot if you get a huge truck bomb going off right outside a small building, but that force diminishes significantly as proximity decreases.
Before labeling a cool idea stupid, why not take a basic physics class and learn about some of the principles involved?
No no, your years of expertise in the field have given you a great view of.. oh wait no, you have NO idea what you talking about.
research of GTFO
This is just stupid and misleading. A simple piece of fabric would do the exact same job. And a steel ball is not a bomb…
@ab – I take it you are an engineer… Actually, if you have a rudimentary understanding of the physics of explosions you will know that bombs, particularly the improvised explosive devices favored in places like Iraq, do most of their damage with shrapnel.
During an explosion, you obviously get heat – a regular wall can stop that; you get the actual force of the blast (which can be simulated by a wrecking ball); and you get flying projectiles. This wallpaper will protect from the last two. Obviously it won’t help a whole lot if you get a huge truck bomb going off right outside a small building, but that force diminishes significantly as proximity decreases.
Before labeling a cool idea stupid, why not take a basic physics class and learn about some of the principles involved?
No no, your years of expertise in the field have given you a great view of.. oh wait no, you have NO idea what you talking about.
research of GTFO
I understand the fabric itself is tough, but I’d like to see how it does when it’s literally wallpapered to a wall and not bound to something above and below. Maybe that’s part of the installation though…
I understand the fabric itself is tough, but I’d like to see how it does when it’s literally wallpapered to a wall and not bound to something above and below. Maybe that’s part of the installation though…
Amazing stuff. I’m interested to know the price when it hits market. If they can make it cheap enough we could build literally bombproof cities. There’s no point in attacking something that will shrug off any bomb that you could safely (IE without having to amass so many materials that it would lead police right to you) and practically (IE with the level of technical knowledge available to your typical terrorist) assemble and deliver.
Looks like they built a new wall every time.
We need to be sure that the walls without wallpaper were built to the same strength as the walls with wallpaper.
My question is would the wall still be able to hold up a building after taking this blast. We see that the wall buckles but does not allow the ball through, which is great, but couldn’t you have a pretty serious collapse? He says the wall is hanging from the ceiling, but then what would be holding up the ceiling?
Yes, because thank god we are all live in houses that are three feet tall. Totally practical.