"The researchers proved this by shooting a bullet traveling at 5.8 kilometers per second through two cubes. One cube was made from a solid polymer and the other from a polymer printed with a tubulane structure.
The researchers reported that the solid polymer block was left with "cracks that propagated through the whole structure.” The tubulane cube, however, stopped the projectile by its second layer."
"The Rice lab of materials scientist Pulickel Ajayan found tubulanes can be mimicked as scaled-up, 3D-printed polymer blocks that prove to be better at deflecting projectiles than the same material without holes. The blocks are also highly compressible without breaking apart.
As detailed in Small, the discovery could lead to printed structures of any size with tunable mechanical properties."
The researchers reported that the solid polymer block was left with "cracks that propagated through the whole structure.” The tubulane cube, however, stopped the projectile by its second layer."
"The Rice lab of materials scientist Pulickel Ajayan found tubulanes can be mimicked as scaled-up, 3D-printed polymer blocks that prove to be better at deflecting projectiles than the same material without holes. The blocks are also highly compressible without breaking apart.
As detailed in Small, the discovery could lead to printed structures of any size with tunable mechanical properties."