Official ICE Forums
Systems & Settings => Spacemaster => Topic started by: markc on September 02, 2015, 10:21:09 AM
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http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/02/politics/britain-warship-of-the-future/index.html
I was reading this article and came across the acrylic hull info and was amazed as I never considered plastic to be a durable damage resistant hull material but then I guess you could use anything.
MDC
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Yup, acrylic is pretty durable for many applications.
When you see "bullet proof" glass (actually bullet resistant, not bullet proof) it is usually made of acrylic. Although sometimes it is made from multi-layers of polycarbonate or polycarbonate and actual glass layers sandwiched between one another , but that option is more expensive.
Acrylates (as well as polycarbonates) are a small portion of my employers business. If I remember correctly we are the third largest producer of Acrylates in the world (despite there being thousands of different producers). We used to be #5 in the world for polycarbonate production, but spun off that business about 4 years or so ago.
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Plastics don't resist radiation well... I wouldn't want to make spaceship out of plastic if long life expectancy is relevant design parameter. In case of metals radiation damage is not issue (for hull design).
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Good point as I had never thought about the radiation angle and plastic before.
But if you have radiation shields (and they were very reliable) vs other tech doing your radiation resistance then it might be an option.
That also brings up other issues that might be around in 2050, such as plastic vs laser and other such "future possible" weapons. But then again since this was a thought exercise in the British Navy I would hope that they would think of this angle.
MDC
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On that note, take a look at this: http://www.news.com.au/technology/innovation/nasa-self-healing-material-can-repair-itself-two-seconds-after-being-shot-by-a-bullet/story-fnpjxnlk-1227506001680 (http://www.news.com.au/technology/innovation/nasa-self-healing-material-can-repair-itself-two-seconds-after-being-shot-by-a-bullet/story-fnpjxnlk-1227506001680) Self "healing" plastics.
Not sure of the details of how they are accomplishing this (although I do have my suspicions), but I know my employer has been doing research into this field as well (but again I don't know the details and even if I did, could not legally reveal them anyways).
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That is very interesting and something I am a bit surprised has not been created yet. But then maybe the idea has been out there and they have just needed to get the manufacturing of the material figured out.
MDC
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Yes, the research in that area has been going on for several years now at several universities as well as probably several different companies (but of course companies tend not to publicly announce what they are working on, at least not until they apply for a patent).