Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
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flexible chainmail

chainmail made of interlocking looped helixes
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The recently posted "Nanotube Maille" got me thinking about other types of nano-material design.

Making the nano-chainmail out of looped helixes instead of just loops would make the chainmail more flexible and comfortable.

xaviergisz, Feb 04 2007

flexible chain mail http://imgur.com/a/0V5fX
illustrations [xaviergisz, Feb 04 2007, last modified Dec 13 2011]

[link]






       Wouldn't that compromise the strength of the mail due to diameter by design being less than 1/4 the thickness of normal Chain Mail. Also I have never found chain mail to be particularly inflexible, in fact that is one of its strong points is its flexibility. Though it looks cool this seems like a solution without a problem.
jhomrighaus, Feb 04 2007
  

       It actually might make it more inflexible; when the looped spirals become tangled like a slinky.
Mr Buttersworth, Feb 04 2007
  

       [jhom] and [big], I envisige that nano-chainmail would be a kind of ultra-thin designer fashion material, rather than a battle protective material.   

       The difference between this nano-chainmail and normal nano-chainmail would be analogous to the difference between spandex and woven cotton.
xaviergisz, Feb 04 2007
  

       Yeah, this is a nice illustration. DNA would probably be used for the material. But, you are still going to need some sort of crazy nanomachine magic to get the damn things to interlock. I don't think there is self assembly that can do that. I could be wrong.   

       Getting DNA strands to attach to themselves in a loop would be difficult enough. How does it know the complementary end group is its own and not from another strand?   

       Here is how I see it using self assembly. In one mixture you would make DNA circles (look like a toroid) and somehow trap some sort of complex in the center of the circle. Then, you put more DNA in that would want to attach to the complex on both sides, thus creating two interlocked circles. Add complex and repeat.
daseva, Feb 04 2007
  

       admittedly manufacturing would be tricky. I imagined interweaving straight nanohelixes with defects at regular intervals (using rotating magnetic field). The helixes could be broken with chemicals and then helixes reform (i.e. self assemble) as loops.
xaviergisz, Feb 04 2007
  

       // design that would be so stretchy that an arrow would go right through it ?//   

       Maille was never very good for arrows with a bodkin point anyway. That's what plate was invented for. That and a hit with a sword onto a maille covered arm will still leave you with a shattered arm. Just not *cut*.   

       This idea may be useful for cut-resistant fabrics and materials, something that is used quite extensively in industry and meat processing.
Custardguts, Feb 05 2007
  
      
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