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Aluminium & Kevlar Shield - The art of Origami for saving lives!

Remember the paper planes and the boats you used to make in your school days with your friends? A swan, a flower or a windmill maybe?

Everybody has had a go at the art of Origami - the Japanese art of folding paper to create structures of beauty at some point in their lives. They are usually used as decorative pieces or showcase exquisite craftsmanship involving various forms and folding patterns. But a team of engineers at Brigham Young University (BYU) has created a lightweight bulletproof shield inspired by a Yoshimura origami crease pattern. The shield is made of 12 layers of bulletproof Kevlar with an aluminum core in the middle.


It solves two very critical aspects of physical protection of law enforcement officers –
  • This structure is extremely lightweight and compact unlike rigid shields which are cumbersome to deploy at times. The origami shield can be easily deployed in about 5 seconds and can be easily carried in the trunk of the police vehicles as it is foldable and requires less space. At only 25 kgs, the Aluminium and Kevlar shield it is almost half the weight of the current steel based shields.
  • Flat shields mostly offer maximum protection to only 1 person at a time in a crossfire. This shield can offer protection to a maximum of 3 people due to its surround-structure.





During testing, the researchers found the shield to be successful in stopping bullets from 9mm, .357 Magnum and .44 Magnum handguns. "Those are significant handguns with power," says Larry Howell, professor of Mechanical Engineering, BYU. "We suspected that something as large as a .44 Magnum would actually tip it over, but that didn't happen." The shield is still being developed and the current version is still a prototype.



The combination of Origami and Aluminium surely make one hell of a combination to save lives!

Source: http://www.designboom.com/design/origami-bulletproof-shield-brigham-young-university-02-20-2017/

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  1. Laraib24 May 2021 at 04:13

    Hey what a brilliant post I have come a cross and believe me I have been searching out for this similar kind of post for past a week and hardly came across this. thin origami paper

    ReplyDelete

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