Why does sand make such good bunker material ?

We tried to answer the above question by coming up, with a design for armor, consisting of
micro-granules and fibers with high-tensile strength.  The selected micro-granules must have a higher impact strength than the fiber.  The goal was to use the micro-granules, as the grains of sand; and the fibers, as the air between the said grains; with the micro-granules offering greater impact resistance.

Following is the basic description of a fiber called Linar, which incorporates the ideas introduced in the above summary.

Linar is produced by modifying the manufacturing process used for the selected fiber, the fiber of choice being the Ultra high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE, UHMW), also known as high-modulus polyethylene (HMPE) or high-performance polyethylene (HPPE). which has the highest tensile strength of currently produced fibers. Other type of fibers, such as Kevlar, are used to offer different grades of Linar.

The manufacturing process of gel spinning and extrusion is modified by injecting the micro-granules at the point of entry of the heated gel into a multi-pored device called spinneret. The injection must be precise, so that the granules are always centered, as the gel goes through the spinneret, and drawn out to be cooled. The interval between the granules is based on the resulting impact on the properties of the fiber.

The injection process is performed with the use of a micro-needle mechanism;  which injects the granules at the proper depth in the fiber; and at fixed or variable intervals. A filtering process, in the injection apparatus, is used to ensure, that the appropriately sized granules are always used.

The micro-granules of choice are Fullerene, high-grade ceramic, Titanium, and whatever alloys or metals which offer the right impact resistance and low weight properties.

Using polymeric fullerene, short closed ended strands, as a replacement for micro-granules is also possible, but more difficult to manufacture; because both the fullerene polymer and the polymeric gel are kept aligned through the extrusion process; so the tensile strength of the resulting fiber is retained.
Silk, or a synthetic form of silk, could be used as a replacement fiber.


Patent Pending

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