Fireproof, bulletproof and very light: we could get closer to what we imagine making a shield similar to that of Captain America.
It is indestructible, fireproof, antiproacty and very light; It can be used as a defense tool but also as a sharp attack weapon; Furthermore, If it is launched, bounces and go back keeping all the kinetic energy. Captain America’s shield, now as iconic as the Indiana Jones whisk or Luke Skywalker’s laser sword, recently changed cinematographic masters (from Steve Rogers/Chris Evans to Sam Wilson/Anthony Mackie) but has not lost its charm.
Too bad it exists only in the comics and cinematographic transpositions of the latter … or maybe not? According to the scientist Ricardo Castro, professor of Materials Engineering at Lehigh University (Pennsylvania), Science could approach more than we imagine the creation of a shield similar to that of Captain America.
The perfect material. In the world of Marvel, the shield owes its resistance to vibraniuma imaginary metal capable of absorbing e redistribute kinetic energy. Although such a material does not exist, researchers have been studying leagues and composites with similar properties for years.
“It is a very interesting object for a material engineer, because it contains almost all the ideal mechanical characteristics,” explains Castro. The key lies in combining different alloys to make the most of their qualities. In the laboratory, metals and ceramics can be merged to obtain hybrids with extraordinary resistance to compression, impacts and high temperatures, characteristics that would make our shield much closer to reality.
Bullet proof. Such an instrument should bear both the devastating impacts of a super -market like Red Hulk (Captain American rival in the film Brave New World), both targeted and high -speed shots, such as those of firearms. To resist compression, Castro suggests A tungsten carbide structurea material whose atoms are arranged so closely as to make compaction almost impossible. This same principle is already used in some composite elements, such as metal -coated ceramics.
To oppose the bullets, however, the proposed solution is one Nanocrystalline Copper and Tantalio Leaguea product developed by the American army that has a microscopic structure capable of distributing the strength of the impact on a large surface, absorbing the energy as they do Kevlar fibers in the bulletproof vests. “It’s like a hive,” continues Castro: “Copper makes a soft glue, while the Tantalio provides a rigid structure that stops the bullet”.
Resist fire. During the films, the shield is exposed to Explosions, flames and extreme temperatures. In the real world, metals are excellent heat conductors and therefore they warm up quickly, but a ceramic coating could solve the problem. The ceramics have strong covalent bonds that prevent heat transferwhich is why NASA uses them as the protection of the space shuttles during the return to the atmosphere. A possible prototype with layers of porous ceramic and metal would therefore be able to resist fires and explosions, maintaining a sufficiently low temperature to allow those who challenge it not to wear out.
Really bounces? Another incredible feature of the shield is its ability to Brace on the objects and return to the hands of the pitcher. In reality, a disc thrown against a wall loses part of its energy in the impact, so it could never go back with the same speed. However, some materials with “form memory” behave similarly. An example is the Nitinol, a Nichel and titanium alloy that can deform and then return to its original form. “The superplasticity of this League would allow the shield to recover the starting conformation without losing energy” – explains Castro – “even if there is still no material capable of imitating the exact behavior of the faithful ally of Captain America”.
Unresolved problems. We are therefore ready to build the famous Captain America’s Shield? Not exactly. Although, the science of materials has made significant progress, allowing us to obtain individual characteristics of the weapon in question, combine all these properties in a single material remains an unresolved challenge. Furthermore, even if he was very able to invent this vibranium twin, replicating the ideal weight of the shield would be complicated. In the Marvel universe, in fact, it has a diameter of 76 centimeters, a thickness of 76 millimeters and a weight of 5.45 kilogramsand find a system in the real world to obtain the same mechanical properties while maintaining the same low weight is, at the moment, beyond our technological skills.
