this material can't be cut - knives included!

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Just thought you'd all enjoy this story: and also gnash your teeth a bit ; )

https://science.slashdot.org/story/...artificial-material-effectively-cannot-be-cut

"It's pretty amazing," says Miranda Anderson at the University of Stirling, UK, who worked on the project. Rather than just being a hard surface that resists external pressure, the material turns the force of the drill or cutting mechanism back on itself, as the ceramic spheres create vibrations that disrupt the external force. "It actually destroys the cutting blade through the sideways jerky vibrations that it creates, or it widens the water jet's spray," says Anderson.

The material has a second defense mechanism. Attempting to cut it breaks the ceramic spheres into smaller fragments which are even harder and act like very tough sandpaper. "So the attack mechanism causes the material to become more resistant to the attack," says Anderson. While an angle grinder took 45 seconds to cut through steel armor used to protect against explosive mines, it was rendered inoperative by Proteus. The only comparable structure in the natural world is diamond, says Anderson, but Proteus is cheaper and lighter, making it practical for a range of applications, from security doors and barriers to shoe soles or elbow pad and forearm guards for workers. She believes it can be mass-produced, as there is no shortage of the metals and ceramics it is made from.

I'd love to get Larrin Larrin or any other scientist/engineer feedback about this, it sounds pretty amazing
 
Let me just go get my ice pick, and I'll be right back.

It looks like this is being developed for military and industrial uses. I'd like to see how it stands up to a plain old hand hacksaw, or a bolt cutters.
 
Well most of the time when I'm cutting stuff I'm not using a knife on aluminum.

It sounds very cool but I guess the elephant in the room is what kind of tooling do you use to make sure the new miracle material can be used for something.

Probably needs to be molded to shape. And if that's the case, should be able to cut through it with a torch...they don't mention any resistance to that.
 
Probably needs to be molded to shape. And if that's the case, should be able to cut through it with a torch...they don't mention any resistance to that.
Yeah fire can be your friend.

If they have pour it molten then they have to make molds that'll be relativly short lived. That can get expensive.
 
Well most of the time when I'm cutting stuff I'm not using a knife on aluminum.

It sounds very cool but I guess the elephant in the room is what kind of tooling do you use to make sure the new miracle material can be used for something.
3d print it?
 
3d print it?
Not yet. Massive cut and paste below.

Our material consists of metallic and ceramic ingredients and consequently requires metallurgical processes to manufacture the end parts. Firstly, the aluminum powder is mixed with titanium dihydride, TiH2 (foaming agent) utilizing a rotating impeller to ensure a uniform mixture (Fig. 2). After the mixing stage, the powder mixture is consolidated via cold compaction in a compressor and then extruded through an extrusion die resulting in dense rods of material, which are cut into smaller pieces. Next, ceramic spheres and compressed aluminum powder rods are stacked in an orthogonal, grillage pattern and enclosed in a steel box using spot welds. The structure is then heated in a furnace to ca. 760 °C (depending on the melting range of the used aluminum alloy) for between 15 and 20 minutes. The titanium dihydride begins to decompose at approximately 470 °C, releasing hydrogen gas. The release of the high-pressure hydrogen expands the molten aluminum, creating voids. The components are subsequently cooled in calm air to produce a stable cellular structure with embedded ceramic components.
 
good point, I was visualizing the part where they describe how breaking the ceramic sphere's turned them "into smaller fragments which are even harder "
 
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