CONTACT
Susan Trulove
(540) 231-5646
[email protected]
PERFORATION-RESISTANT MATERIAL RECEIVES PATENT
Stronger Structures Likely From New Material
BLACKSBURG, March 25, 1997 -- A new material developed at Virginia Tech has the potential to strengthen structures such as airplane wings and
fuselage as well as the armor in cars and tanks.
Virginia Tech Intellectual Properties Inc. today received a patent
on the new material, # 5,614,305. VTIP is a nonprofit corporation affiliated with the university.
"A reinforced polymer composite material with embedded Nitinol
fibers" was developed by Craig Rogers, former director of the Center for
Intelligent Material Structures and Systems at Virginia Tech, and Jeffrey
Paine, a graduate student with the center.
"The nitinol reinforcement works well with low velocity impacts
(200 feet per second) such as the type seen in handguns, aircraft
birdstrikes, and runway debris impact, and vehicular impact," says Paine.
"In airplanes, it could prevent damage from foreign objects, such
as bird hits or aid in containment of cargo hold explosions. On armored
vehicles, it would significantly improve protection against mine fragments."
He also sees potential for the new light-weight composite in
personal body armor such as reinforcing Kevlar (TM) armor helmets, Paine
says. Research is still ongoing in these areas.
Rogers, now dean of engineering at the University of South
Carolina, explains that Nitinol is a shape memory metal that can be
stretched like a rubber band. It is currently used in eyeglasses frames to
help them retain their shape, and in the wires on dental braces.
"When used as a fiber in composites, it allows the material to
dissipate energy so it can withstand a great impact," Rogers says.
Paine, now vice president of engineering with Garman Systems of
Nashville, Tenn., did his Ph.D. work in shape memory alloys, including
developing and testing the use of the Nitinol composite material for armor
and composite material pressure vessel reinforcement. He and colleagues
worked with both the Virginia Tech police department and the Army Research
Office to determine environments in which the material would provide
protection.
Fred LaLande, research assistant professor with Virginia Tech's
Center for Intelligent Material Structures and Systems, reports that since
Paine graduated in 1994, center researchers have started to model
theoretical applications and have done ballistic testing, working with
projectiles at 1000-feet-per-second.
The patent will be marketed by VTIP Inc.
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For more information, contact:
Michael J. Martin, executive vice president for VTIP, (540) 231-8999 or
[email protected]
Dr. Fred LaLande, (540) 231-2911 or [email protected]
Dr. Jeffrey Paine, (615) 292-7022 or [email protected]
Dr. Craig Rogers, (803) 777-4259 or [email protected]
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