# Made of Indestructium!



## Rojack79 (Dec 27, 2015)

Hello everyone. Down to business. What is the closest material we have on earth that is nearly indestructible? As an example it would have to be able to withstand bullets, bomb's, High Heat, crushing Pressure's, and so on. Any help will be appreciated.


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## popsprocket (Dec 27, 2015)

Better narrow it down for us an tell us what the application is.

Body armour? Tank armour? Spaceship armour?

Plain old steel might fit your requirements in a suitable thickness but that doesn't mean it's practical to wear around as body armour.


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## Riis Marshall (Dec 28, 2015)

Hello Rojack

My choice would be the human heart but I don't think that's quite what you're looking for.

All the best with your writing.

Warmest regards
Riis


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## Sam (Dec 28, 2015)

Mineral lonsdaleite is the hardest known material. It can withstand 58% more stress than a diamond, but it is exceptionally rare. It only forms when meteorites containing graphite hit the earth. 

Wurzite boron nitride is the second. It can withstand 18% more stress than a diamond. But, again, exceptionally rare. It only forms during volcanic eruptions with a VEI magnitude of four or above. There have only been four such eruptions in the last thirty-five years: Mount St Helens (VEI 5), in 1980; Pinatubo (VEI 6), in 1991; Eyjaafjallajokull (VEI 4), in 2010; and Puyehue (VEI 5), in 2011.


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## Winston (Dec 28, 2015)

Just to build on previous comments:

Popsrocket was correct on the application of the armor mattering.  The composite armor on a MBT (Abrams, Leopard or Chieftain) is impractical for an AFV like a Bradley.  Much less for an individual soldier.  And AR500 steel, while superior to ceramic, weighs twice as much.  Most police compromise and use LVL 2A armor for daily use, and have 3A and 4 armor for tactical situations only.  It's all risk management.  A Bradley should never face an enemy tank directly, so why carry all the extra weight?  A cop is shot by handguns over 90% of the time, the protection against rifle fire limits mobility.

As for Sam's exotic materials, there are two major limitations:  Cost and workability.  Your plot line could involve a huge cache of some "unobtanium", but if it's expensive, it wouldn't be on the backs of millions of grunts.  Also, the harder the material, the less malleable to fit real-world objects like torsos and sloped tank turrets.  The solution is rigid rectangular plates, but stacked plates have gaps and can come loose.  How do you fasten indestructible plates?  Drill holes in them to bolt them in place?

Generally, armor is only a solution when it is is cheap and does not limit mobility.  For future applications, I'd look into some combo of carbon fiber and non-Newtonian fluids.  Oh, and research reactive armor and active (point) defense.  

Sorry.  You wanted the toughest stuff known to man.  I gave you the best and most effective.  Use it as you will.


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## Rojack79 (Dec 28, 2015)

Winston said:


> Just to build on previous comments:
> 
> Popsrocket was correct on the application of the armor mattering.  The composite armor on a MBT (Abrams, Leopard or Chieftain) is impractical for an AFV like a Bradley.  Much less for an individual soldier.  And AR500 steel, while superior to ceramic, weighs twice as much.  Most police compromise and use LVL 2A armor for daily use, and have 3A and 4 armor for tactical situations only.  It's all risk management.  A Bradley should never face an enemy tank directly, so why carry all the extra weight?  A cop is shot by handguns over 90% of the time, the protection against rifle fire limits mobility.
> 
> ...


Wow thanks. This will help a lot.


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## Rojack79 (Dec 28, 2015)

Sam said:


> Mineral lonsdaleite is the hardest known material. It can withstand 58% more stress than a diamond, but it is exceptionally rare. It only forms when meteorites containing graphite hit the earth.
> 
> Wurzite boron nitride is the second. It can withstand 18% more stress than a diamond. But, again, exceptionally rare. It only forms during volcanic eruptions with a VEI magnitude of four or above. There have only been four such eruptions in the last thirty-five years: Mount St Helens (VEI 5), in 1980; Pinatubo (VEI 6), in 1991; Eyjaafjallajokull (VEI 4), in 2010; and Puyehue (VEI 5), in 2011.


Thanks for the post. I will look these two up as soon as i can.


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## Rojack79 (Dec 28, 2015)

popsprocket said:


> Better narrow it down for us an tell us what the application is.
> 
> Body armour? Tank armour? Spaceship armour?
> 
> Plain old steel might fit your requirements in a suitable thickness but that doesn't mean it's practical to wear around as body armour.


I'm trying to create a suit of power armor that can survive just about anything someone would be able to throw at it. I want to make it out of a realistic material to keep my sci-fi as hard as possible. I wander what would be the best material for a Giant Robot, ala gundam type Giant Robot's?


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## Rojack79 (Dec 28, 2015)

Oh and i'm looking for a metal that can be used for a "heat sword". I was thinking of using a Titanium Tungsten Carbide for the sword's blade but i don't know if that is possible.


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