Design and Process by Madmonk

Justin Sawyers, PM
Ryan Hoffman
Peter Sohl

Design and Process

Amorphous metal armor is the wave of the future in the Defense Sector and will save thousands of Servicemen in combat. Such abstract and non-specific statements sound too good to be true, and they are if there isn’t an equally excellent design on paper and an established process to turn that design into a reality. AEONS Metal Armor offers both of these.
When one hears about futuristic metals and body armor, fantastic images like Spartan 117 from Halo 2 (©Bungie 2004) or the heroes of Metroid Prime 2 (©Nintendo 2004) spring to mind. Futuristic full body suits like these are just that, futuristic, and beyond all reason and practicality. Such amazing innovations are unnecessary with military uniforms such as they are today.
Arriving at this terminus was not without its fair share of technical difficulties. At first, the idea was to create a feasible version of the Sci-Fi video game style suits mentioned before. We then came to realize that feasible Halo (©Microsoft 2004) armor is an oxymoron; exactly as ridiculous as it sounds. Discouraged by failures at man-portable armor, the AEONS design team took a stab at using the armor on vehicles and aircraft. Though amorphous armor was proven to be highly effective at protecting vehicles, it remained too heavy to make an efficient aircraft.
After suffering these defeats, the AEONS team came up with the idea of shielding buildings with the material. One member objected because building-sized plates would be far too difficult to synthesize. The solution was to cover the building in what would, effectively, be plate mail, like scales, except about two feet square. While an effective plan, it was hardly revolutionary; not nearly worthy of the Exploravision Competition. It was at this impasse that the Team had an epitome: why not fuse the first and last ideas? The final plan for AEONS Metal armor was thus born: using current military BDU’s and three larger plate to fully shield a soldier’s torso.
In the armed forces today, many styles of BDU (Battle Dress Uniform) are ready and waiting for amorphous shielding. Certain types of vests and other upper-body wear such as those used by Air Force Special Operations have zippered pockets into which Kevlar plates can be inserted, effectively rendering the vest bulletproof. The AEONS plan is to produce amorphous plates that can be inserted into these vests already in the field.
Critics ask why, if these zippered pockets already house Kevlar armor, do they need AEONS Armor? The answer is in the Kevlar itself. Kevlar, while very much effective at stopping small caliber handgun fire, might as well be made of tissue paper if the incoming bullet is fired from a rifle of any caliber. Amorphous armor would protect the wearer against handguns as well as rifles, silencing objections as to the necessity and utility of this product.
As to process, the nature of amorphous metal makes forming it into shapes relatively simple. Unlike other metals, amorphous metal can be injection molded. This means that, like with plastic, one mold can be used to stamp out thousands of identical plates, even in curved shapes. Normal metals require that sheets be made and the metal then bent, or it can be molded, but a mold can only cast one piece and is destroyed by that process.
AEONS Metal Armor has provided a simple, down-to-Earth approach to saving lives, including a design for the product and a process for realizing it. AEONS will reshape the face of war while minimizing casualty counts.

Breakthroughs by Madmonk

Justin Sawyers, PM
Peter Sohl
Ryan Hoffman

Breakthroughs

Amorphous metal technologies are the wave of the future in the Defense Sector. The electromagnetic shielding properties of so-called “liquid metals” make them the substance of choice to protect sensitive battlefield electronics from Atmospheric Nuclear Detonations. The liquid-like configuration of the metal molecules makes it virtually impervious to rust and other corrosion. These amazing compounds are even capable of deflecting bullets from troops like a trampoline deflects a nine-year old. Looking at the plethora of extremely tangible benefits, one must question why the Pentagon and comparable Ministries throughout Europe and the World have yet to implement these protective measures.
Many in the Defense industry question the effectiveness of a vest produced from these substances. Most skeptics are prejudiced against any compound with the alias “glassy metal”. These skeptics, though misinformed, carry enough clout to prevent real integration of this technology. Other DoD (U.S. Department of Defense) budget specialists and deficit-hawks claim that the cost-to-benefit ratio is too high. The most basic human morality dictates, however, that no price can be set on a human life, thousands of which AEONS armor has the potential to save.
Other impediments to the wide-scale implementation of amorphous armor are purely scientific. First, foremost, and perhaps the largest limitation of all is the difficulty involved in reprocessing amorphous metal. While this material is stronger and more durable than any other tactical material, it is not impervious. When, for example, a tank sustains a hole from an unusually powerful bullet, the mechanic can’t just weld a new plate on, as AEONS armor cannot be welded without crystallization and loss of strength. Due to the chaotic molecular structure that gives it its incredible strength, amorphous metal has a tendency to crack rather than just have a hole put in it, as true metals do. Should a plate of AEONS armor become cracked beyond repair, there is currently no easy way of recycling the metal. While there are some methods available toady, they are slow, costly, and produce impure and much weaker products.
To close: for AEONS armor to be better implemented, two breakthroughs must occur. First, the DoD, needs to give corporations researching and developing these compounds the money that they need to succeed, in stark contrast to the relative pocket change being doled out now. Second, science must develop a way of quickly, easily, and efficiently recycling amorphous metal. With this knowledge in the proverbial pockets of the Defense industry, amorphous metal will revolutionize warfare.

Future Applications by JSawyer

Justin Sawyer
Ryan Hoffman
Peter Sohl
December 26th, 2005

Future Applications of Amorphous Metals

In the future the United States military as well as other developed countries will have better-armed military’s through the use of Amorphous metals. These highly versatile substances can be used as armor for tanks, trucks, and even for the soldiers themselves. These metals can also be used for the weapons as well as the armor.
Amorphous metals are the new frontier for our world in terms of advances in metallurgy and the way of the future. These metals reflect and redirect almost all of the energy put into them, making them perfect for bouncing bullets right off of tanks and other vehicles. They also have reduced friction properties. In the future, when these materials have been analyzed enough by scientists and the military decides to upgrade its armor, amorphous metals will be the largest upgrade the military has ever seen. These new compounds are corrosive resistant, and are extremely strong and durable. The United Sates military will be able to have their equipment survive in even more hospitable conditions and will have more soldiers returning home from the added strength and protection provided by amorphous metals, the metal of the future.
In the future the military will have to cast these metals into the different shapes and sizes that they need. It used to be extremely expensive to cast these versatile metals. This enormous cost was due to the fact that these metals are highly heat resistant and needed to be heated up to extreme temperatures to melt them down into a molten state for casting. Scientists have now came up with new amorphous metal compounds that can be cast at much lower temperatures, similar to conventional glassy materials. In the future, solidification of amorphous metal materials will be done using many different procedures. Some of those procedures will be water quenching a melt in a quartz tube, casting in a copper mold, high pressure die casting, arc melting in a water-cooled crucible, uni-directional solidification, and suction casting.
Amorphous metallic coatings are proving to be corrosion resistant and tough similar to using whole sheets of amorphous metals. In the future, amorphous metals don’t have to be the entire piece of the metal but can be sprayed on to other substances forming a metal coating and drastically improving the previous materials strength. These amorphous metal materials are applied using a thermal spray technique known as high-velocity-oxygen-fuel (HVOF), which produces dense, pore-free, hard, and extremely tough coatings. The liquid metal-coated materials are transformed into an amorphous nano-crystalline structure upon finishing or once they are put into service. When liquid metal coatings are subjected to wear, in service, they undergo the unique metamorphic transformation that induces surface hardening. Contrary to the traditional concept of wear resulting from usage, amorphous metallic coatings get harder, slicker, and more wear resistant as they are put into service. This means that a sheet of metal with an amorphous metal coating when shot with a gun will not become weaker or brittle in that area, but will become stronger. This mean that military equipment can be abused even greater by taking trucks and tanks straight through salt marshes and not having to worry about the metal corroding and the replacement of that corroded piece, as well as not having to patch up bullet holes as frequently on helicopters and tanks, and other military equipment. This will also mean monumental strides in military achievements, and will also mean the prolonging of life for military, as well as some consumer equipment.
Besides the wide array of military applications, amorphous metals can also be applied to more conventional purposes. For the various amorphous metal compositions, which are under investigation, potential applications include bio-medical applications based on high corrosion resistance, electro-processes, small mechanical parts, and magnetic applications. As an example, studies of high strength aluminum alloys are being carried out for YKK (a zipper manufacturer). Amorphous metals will greatly increase the United States military strength and offer a great deal more to the consumer in the future and will save American lives.