- Joined
- Dec 11, 2003
- Messages
- 125
Hi! I'm not a materials scientist, but I'm going to play one for a moment...
We all know our beloved Busse knives are "nuclear tough" as they say, but many (okay, a scant few) of you might be interested to know that the Micarta slabs on our handles share a small commonality with their real-life nuclear brethren.
Micarta is composed of layers of cloth, paper, canvas, etc. impregnated with phenolic resin, which is a thermosetting plastic created by reacting phenols with aldehydes.
The heatshields on modern ICBM and SLBM reentry vehicles are made the same way, only using carbon fiber as the reinforcing matrix instead of the lowly canvas, paper, etc. used in Micarta. The composite carbon-phenolic structure ablates off as the RV travels through the atmosphere, carrying away the heat generated by friction. Even ablation is achieved through spin stabilization imparted by the RV bus as it sends the RV on its way.
What does all this mean? Nothing much, except maybe that I've gotten too carried away with the techno-geek thing.
On the other hand, maybe Jerry can get the gub'mint to fork over a chunk of heathshield from an old RV and make a special run of heatshield-handled knives! With blades made from a special alloy of INFI and Plutonium-239 (affectionately known as "PIMPI")!! You could call it the Atomic Bimbo!!! YES!!!!
[Wipes froth from mouth, takes medication, breathes deeply]
Yours in nuclear boredom,
jonathan
"World-wide delivery in 30 minutes or less or your next one is free" -- Domino's Pizza spoof painted on blast door at Delta One LCC, Ellsworth AFB
We all know our beloved Busse knives are "nuclear tough" as they say, but many (okay, a scant few) of you might be interested to know that the Micarta slabs on our handles share a small commonality with their real-life nuclear brethren.
Micarta is composed of layers of cloth, paper, canvas, etc. impregnated with phenolic resin, which is a thermosetting plastic created by reacting phenols with aldehydes.
The heatshields on modern ICBM and SLBM reentry vehicles are made the same way, only using carbon fiber as the reinforcing matrix instead of the lowly canvas, paper, etc. used in Micarta. The composite carbon-phenolic structure ablates off as the RV travels through the atmosphere, carrying away the heat generated by friction. Even ablation is achieved through spin stabilization imparted by the RV bus as it sends the RV on its way.
What does all this mean? Nothing much, except maybe that I've gotten too carried away with the techno-geek thing.
On the other hand, maybe Jerry can get the gub'mint to fork over a chunk of heathshield from an old RV and make a special run of heatshield-handled knives! With blades made from a special alloy of INFI and Plutonium-239 (affectionately known as "PIMPI")!! You could call it the Atomic Bimbo!!! YES!!!!
[Wipes froth from mouth, takes medication, breathes deeply]
Yours in nuclear boredom,
jonathan
"World-wide delivery in 30 minutes or less or your next one is free" -- Domino's Pizza spoof painted on blast door at Delta One LCC, Ellsworth AFB
