Even the most expensive bicycle locks can be compromised in just a few minutes, and they mostly serve as deterrents, making your trip a less attractive target. But researchers at Durham University in the UK and the Fraunhofer Institute have created what they say it is first man-made material that’s not cuttable, for actively destroying tools trying to get through
You can always try to wrap your bike in a diamond shield so that it is impossible for a thief to steal it before returning from an errand. But even diamonds, one of the hardest materials on earth, can still be cut and molded with jewelry. tools (also made of diamonds) with enough time and patience. There is also the problem of what a diamond bicycle lock would cost you.
Proteus, the name given to the new material by its creators, takes a completely different approach. Where diamonds are incredibly strong thanks to their highly organized and dense atomic structure, Proteus is actually 85% less dense than metal, but its unique structure, made from a mixture of aluminum metal foam and embedded ceramic spheres, converts the tools against themselves, dulling the cutting surfaces and increasingly difficult as the material turns into powder.
It sounds like a material that was Reverse engineering of a crashed alien spacecraft, and it seems to go against the traditional approaches used to create ultra strong and cut resistant materials. As revealed in Proteus images and video under attack, the outer layers of the material can be easily cut and penetrated, but once a saw blade or drill bit hits the embedded ceramic balls just below, vibrations are created that Quickly dull the sharp edges of a tool, reducing its effectiveness.
At the same time, small ceramic powder particles accumulate as the spheres are cut, filling the aluminum foam frame to make it denser and harder as the speed of the cutting tool increases. It is similar to the way the small particles in a sandbag harden when compressed to absorb the force of a bullet and stop it.
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YouTube is full of videos of people using high pressure water jet machines to cut all kinds of objects with ease. They apparently outperform even the most capable saws, but the researchers note that Proteus is as effective in resisting damage from a water jet as the shape of those ceramic spheres tends to extend the fine stream of water, reducing its speed and power.
The team of researchers didn’t necessarily have bicycle locks in mind as the reason for creating Proteus, but the material could be just as effective when it comes to creating lightweight armor that could Make any vehicle as strong as a tank, without the massive size and horrible gas mileage. It could also be used to develop protective equipment for people using dangerous tools like angle grinders and table saws.
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