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Pykrete
Topic Started: May 13 2010, 04:59 PM (986 Views)
CJ
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A very minor case of serious brain damage

We don't really have anything on material sciences so far, so I thought I'd start this.

Pykrete is a composite material that was invented during World War II by Geoffrey Pyke, which was intended to be used to construct an unsinkable aircraft carrier. His original plan was to use ice: he tested this by building a 60ft, 1000-ton ice ship on Patricia Lake in the Canadian Rockies, which took several months to melt completely. However, ice proved insufficiently strong for use in warfare, so Pyke invented pykrete, which is made up of 14% wood shavings, mixed with ice, which makes up the remaining 86%. This proved highly durable when kept at or below freezing; for example, it was able to withstand bullets, and had a tensile strength almost three times that of concrete (700psi as opposed to 250psi), but less than half the density (0.98g/cm³ as opposed to 2.5g/cm³). It could be moulded into any shape, and would presumably also be much cheaper than many other raw materials that could be used.

Pyke managed to convince various admirals and generals, including Lord Mountbatten, that this could be used in the construction of aircraft carriers - although, ultimately, nothing came of it. Since then, pykrete hasn't been used in any large scale construction projects, although it was considered for a quay in Oslo harbour in 1985.

Pykrete was tested in a 2009 episode of MythBusters, and did indeed prove to be much stronger than ice. The MB team also tested a version called "Super Pykrete", using newspapers instead of wood shavings. This proved to be stronger still, but when they tried to build a boat out of it, it melted very quickly.

Here's a picture of a slab of it:

Posted Image

Also, you might like to see this guy putting a block of it to the test:



And, last but not least, the Wiki article:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pykrete
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ConfitOfDuck
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Anything but 'Miserables'

Do you know how heavy it is, relatively speaking?
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CJ
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A very minor case of serious brain damage

Well, its density is 0.98g/cm³, which makes it slightly lighter than water.
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Candyguitar
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I initially thought it'd be a good material for submarines, but even the abyssal zone doesn't have temperatures below freezing, and it's usually the deepest part of the ocean (there is also the hadal zone, but only the deepest of ocean trenches go this far). Besides, wouldn't it be expensive to need to send them that deep, thus defeating the purpose (cost) of using it in the first place?
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CJ
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A very minor case of serious brain damage

I know it's a tough material, but I don't think it's tough enough to withstand that sort of pressure :P !
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Michelle
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What the?

That's just weird....
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CJ
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A very minor case of serious brain damage

Maybe I should make some with newspapers :P .
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Michelle
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You could if you wanted to :P
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lamna
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I remember the Mythbusters episode where they made a boat from frozen newspapers. Worked pretty well until it melted.
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CJ
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A very minor case of serious brain damage

I wish I had seen that :( . Mythbusters is a great show.
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Michelle
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I know, I love that show.
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CJ
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A very minor case of serious brain damage

Yeah - I haven't seen it for ages, though.
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Michelle
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Next time you sit in front of the TV, see if it's on!
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CJ
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A very minor case of serious brain damage

Perhaps. I don't have a TV in my room, though, so I have to use things like YouTube and iPlayer.
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Michelle
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You could see if there any episodes on Discovery Channel website
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