Aluminum and titanium foil heated, compressed into armor.(METALS)

A metallic foil laminate that can serve as armor and is lightweight enough to replace beryllium has reportedly been developed at the University of California at San Diego. "The new material we developed is environmentally safe, and while its stiffness equals that of steel, it's only half as dense," says Prof. Kenneth S. Vecchio. The laminate is made primarily of alternate layers of aluminum and titanium alloy foils. The stack of foils is compressed and heated in an inexpensive, energy-conserving process. The resulting reaction generates a laminate with two layers: a hard ...