Strongest kind Of Armor for a Craft

Couldnt find anywhere else to post, so i figure post it here in tech forum, hehe, but anyways...

for a spacecraft, what would be the strongest and most heat resistant metal and or alloy?

Gallium?

Not sure. We would first have to know what composition of the overall weight this armor (why do you choose to call it that?) can consist of before we start. What kind of payload are you looking to carry, how much weight in fuel? These (and others) would all be critical assesments needed to be made before we can state a metal or alloy to be used.

I'm not an engineer... but my guess would be carbon-tungsten. Or maybe even depleted uranium.

But they ofcourse incur a weight problem.

[edit on 11/1/06 by SteveR]

Originally posted by SteveR
I'm not an engineer... but my guess would be carbon-tungsten. Or maybe even depleted uranium.

But they ofcourse incur a weight problem.

[edit on 11/1/06 by SteveR]

It's only a weight problem getting it into orbit....after that it wouldn't be a problem.

Originally posted by Wild_Eyed_Southern_Boy

It's only a weight problem getting it into orbit....after that it wouldn't be a problem.

Weight will still be a factor.

I read a few years back about liguid starlight. Its a coating used on the space shuttle's outer panels that can withstand 20,000 degrees f.

What about carbon fiber? I know it's lightweight and very strong, but I don't know anything about it's heat resisting properties.
The NASA site doesn't have any info on "liquid starlight". were you referring to the fluffy stuff they came out with last year, that was going to be used to collect comet material?

You can read about the thermal protection system for the space shuttles here:
Shuttle TPS

Originally posted by rekar
Couldnt find anywhere else to post, so i figure post it here in tech forum, hehe, but anyways...

for a spacecraft, what would be the strongest and most heat resistant metal and or alloy?

Synthetic nano armor. I read something about this recently.

No busymind, it was some kind of coating, I think, that was applied to the outer ceramic tiles of the shuttle.

Well I personally think the best thing to use for a spacecrafts hall would be thick Diamond, or Polyyne.

Originally posted by SteveR
I'm not an engineer... but my guess would be carbon-tungsten. Or maybe even depleted uranium.

But they ofcourse incur a weight problem.

[edit on 11/1/06 by SteveR]

Yeah, tungsten carbide is the strongest metal alloy we have come up with. It's what tungsten rings are made of. However, tanks are sided with tungsten-acrylic, which is more lightweight, extremely strong, and very heat-resistant.

Originally posted by SteveR
I'm not an engineer... but my guess would be carbon-tungsten. Or maybe even depleted uranium.

But they ofcourse incur a weight problem.

[edit on 11/1/06 by SteveR]

Yeah, tungsten carbide is the strongest metal alloy we have come up with. It's what tungsten rings are made of. However, tanks are sided with tungsten-acrylic, which is more lightweight, extremely strong, and very heat-resistant.

Originally posted by iori_komei
Well I personally think the best thing to use for a spacecrafts hall would be thick Diamond, or Polyyne.

While diamond is strong, it forms a tetrahedral lattice, and is susceptible to shattering if hit correctly. If you have a really big diamond and drop it, it will shatter.

There is no one material that will do the trick. NASA relies on layering to solve the problem. I don't remember off hand what the composition of the shuttle hull is like, but I think it's at least 7-8 layers of materials with various properties, everything from aluminum foil to a kevlar-like fabric designed to slow incoming projectiles.

A spaceship hull made out of depleted uranium...

Lemme know when you plan re-entry, I'd like to have time to get the binoculars out. The friction would likely cause you to experience a slight burning sensation ( ), while we down on the ground would be in for a spectacular fireworks show.

So I'm right in thinking DU is weaker than TC? If so why isn't TC used as tank armor instead?

the ship will be built within space, not on a planet, and will not enter any planets, it will be like a massive transport to say....which will carry ships that will enter planets with supplies or whatever. all im really looking for is a strong and very heat resistant way of armoring the hull, whether it be coating it with some material for heat resistance, or finding some nice heat resistnt material.