promising bike-lock metallurgy on the horizon!

[wallymann]

Proteus becomes the world's first manufactured non-cuttable material

"just 15 percent the density of steel"

https://newatlas.com/materials/proteus-non-cuttable-bike-lock-armor/

https://cdn-blog.adafruit.com/uploads/2020/07/untitled-72.jpg

[Veloo]

Sounds great. I hope it does pan out.
Don't think I'll support a Kickstarter but maybe after it's on the market.

[FriarQuade]

That's pretty damn cool. Materials science is fun stuff.

[djdj]

If only they could invent a way to put the bike lock in that plastic packaging used these days for so many products.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koOiHvn3UDc

[dddd]

The cross section of the lock shackle needs impact resistance/toughness as well as tensile strength.

I imagine this new composite might be combined with steel to make a shackle that can stand up to bolt cutters, twisting and jacking/prying.

[dddd]

The best deterrent to bike theft might be the justice system, especially intelligent states that require prisoners to do hard labor of the sort that "Americans don't want to do".
In this way, prisoners can feel like they are part of a solution instead of part of a problem.
Reduction of lengthy prison terms should hinge on one's work and educational advancement while incarcerated.

[zzy]

gee that sounds a lot like a certain other form of involuntary servitude..

[Dino Suegiù]

Interesting research.

I do not really understand the left-field justice system comment in this context, but, that aside:
If the scale on the CT scan from the article is correct, if I am reading it correctly (I do not know what "Szene Koordinatensystem -4.05mm" in the upper left means), then the ceramic balls are ~10mm in diameter, and that structure is ~50mm (2") across. That's very thick for a bicycle lock. I wonder how small the structure can be while still retaining the claimed strength/cutting resistance.

https://www.techcult.ru/content/2020/8552/proteus-lgje.jpg

[cgates66]

How temperature-stable is this stuff? In college we did experiments in materials science breaking things at different temperatures, and obviously there are significant differences.

I understand that the old technique to steal bikes was to freeze the chain / lock with something really cold - like a freon spray etc. - and smash the now-brittle material with a hammer. The fracture toughness of most metals declines significantly at sufficiently low temperatures. Much faster than cutting.

I love advanced composites - such a cool field.

There's a lot of work on high-temperature stuff, but I'm not aware of efforts to improve very low-temperature performance - I'm sure it exists, of course.

[martl]

I understand that the old technique to steal bikes was to freeze the chain / lock with something really cold - like a freon spray etc. - and smash the now-brittle material with a hammer.
wasn't this debunked? In this video, the lock is literally bathed in liquid nitrogen for a longer time, freezing it way better than a thief with a spraycan could (not that i would do it, like the guy in the vid, in sandals :s) and it didn't mind the hammer...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfuPLfsjImU

The material in the 1st article seems to do pretty well against grinders, but i'd be interested in its resistence against other types of attack - bending, bolt cutter, etc