Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Tiled armour science - trispokedovetiles - three-spoke dovetailing tiles

Peter Dow - 23-11-2016 at 14:15

trispokedovetiles_3x3D.png - 42kB
TRISPOKEDOVETILES by Peter Dow

Possible application to tiled armour

One issue with hexagonal or square armour tiles is that such simple shapes don't interlock sideways, as do jigsaw puzzle pieces.

Whilst a little armour tile movement in the same direction as the bullet (normal to the armour plane) is useful in absorbing the kinetic energy of the bullet (and much better than the armour tile absorbing the same kinetic energy by shattering), on the other hand, sideways tile movement (tangential to the armour plane) leaves most unwelcome gaps in the armour in between separated tiles.

So armour tiles shaped like jigsaw puzzle shapes (or some hexagonal variation such as these trispokedovetiles) could perform well in this application.

TRISPOKEDOVETILES

trispokedovetiles_600.jpg - 110kB

I've named the shape "Trispokedovetile" which is a contraction of "tri-spoke dovetailing tile".

I've programmed a webpage using Javascript to display an animation which shows a range of different trispokedovetiles, each of which can be specified by a "CIRCLE" percentage, which is the ratio as a percent of two parameters -

You can also use the webpage to specify a "CIRCLE" percentage and click to "Draw TRISPOKEDOVETILES" to generate an image of a tessellation of a particular shape of trispokedovetiles.

Tutorial on how to create 3D trispokedovetile images

<i>Edit by moderator : Fixed broken links</i>

[Edited on 7-10-2017 by gdflp]

aga - 23-11-2016 at 14:23

This an exceptionally Nice idea, and Welcome to ScienceMadness !

The simple geometry is Artful in it's simplicity.

You could cover Acres of a 2-D flat area with carbon tiles of that shape and protect it from crazed welders.

Unfortunately we live in a 3-D universe, with curves, bumps, wiggles etc.

What am i saying ?!?!

I like some of those curves, bumps and wiggles. A lot !

Peter Dow - 23-11-2016 at 16:11

Quote: Originally posted by aga  
This an exceptionally Nice idea, and Welcome to ScienceMadness !

Thanks. It's nice to be here.

Quote: Originally posted by aga  
The simple geometry is Artful in it's simplicity.

Well there are more arty tessellations on a similar theme, some of which inspired me to a scientific purpose and more examples of which I have collected together at this link.

Quote: Originally posted by aga  
You could cover Acres of a 2-D flat area with carbon tiles of that shape and protect it from crazed welders.

Unfortunately we live in a 3-D universe, with curves, bumps, wiggles etc.

What am i saying ?!?!

I like some of those curves, bumps and wiggles. A lot !

Clearly, it is not the case that "one size fits all".

So different size and shapes of tiles could be made for different applications, smaller, slightly curved tiles for body armour, bigger tiles for paving stone.



[Edited on 24-11-2016 by Peter Dow]

Maroboduus - 23-11-2016 at 16:23

Dragon skin armor?

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&...

Peter Dow - 30-11-2016 at 02:58

Now to consider the important issue of interlocking trispokedovetiles against movement in the direction normal to the tiled plane, which for the application of tiled armour would be the normal to the armour surface, in the direction of a bullet's path.

BILAYER TRISPOKEDOVETILES

I propose that the unit armour tile be comprised of 2 joined trispokedovetiles with matching HEXAGON parameters but each with a different CIRCLE percentage.

For example, suppose we choose trispokedovetiles with CIRCLE = 100% and 121%.

C100.jpg - 12kB C121.jpg - 14kB

The reason for choosing C100 for the outer layer of the armour is because its 120 degree angle corners would be more robust.

The reason for choosing C121 for the inner layer of the armour is because CIRCLE = 121% offers the largest percentage where the neck attaching the outer part rings is at least twice the thickness of the ring, attempting to balance the robustness of the ring parts to the robustness of the neck versus tensile stresses.

why121.jpg - 16kB

Stacking and joining those together forms a bilayer trispokedovetile, "C100+C121".

C100C121.jpg - 18kB C100+C121_3D.jpg - 74kB

Drawing the 2 layers semi-transparently we can see how the bilayer trispokedovetiles would interlock in the normal to the plane.

100+121_crop.jpg - 131kB

2/3rds of the tiles can be slotted together, either the yellows and the blues or the yellows and the purples or the blues and the purples.

However the final 1/3rd of the tiles would not simply slot in and would have to be inserted by joining the two halves of the bilayer trispokedovetile in situ.

Sulaiman - 30-11-2016 at 03:25

for inspiration https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=m+c+escher&source=lnms...

Trispokedovetiles: CNC code to cut tiles

Peter Dow - 5-12-2016 at 16:55

For Computer-Aided Manufacturing of trispokedovetiles, I'm publishing today my new Javascript web-page -

Trispokedovetiles: CNC code to cut tiles web-page G-code generator

- which generates Computer Numerical Control (CNC) code which I've tested with CNC Simulator Pro but not on a real CNC cutter as yet.

<i>Edit by moderator : Fixed broken links</i>

[Edited on 7-10-2017 by gdflp]

elementcollector1 - 5-12-2016 at 19:46

Could the tiles be 3D-printed? This might introduce some tolerance issues with the resolution of the print, but it would be a good way to test these mechanically with different plastics such as ABS and PLA.

Also, could a flexible design be made by curving the interlocking plates somewhat on the z-axis (I don't quite know how to word this) so that each tile could flex outward and inward from the main body? This would allow the armor to be 'worn' in much the same vein as Kevlar, if the tiles could be made small enough.

Peter Dow - 10-12-2016 at 19:54

HOLES!
Now cut trispokedovetiles by CNC laser cutter with (or without) HOLES!

holes.png - 48kB

<i>Edit by moderator : Fixed broken links</i>

[Edited on 7-10-2017 by gdflp]

Peter Dow - 10-12-2016 at 20:29

Quote: Originally posted by elementcollector1  
Could the tiles be 3D-printed? This might introduce some tolerance issues with the resolution of the print, but it would be a good way to test these mechanically with different plastics such as ABS and PLA.

Well don't let me stop you but I think starting off with a strong material in a flat sheet and cutting that up (as with laser cutting) is going to give stronger and quicker tiles then anything 3D printed.

Quote: Originally posted by elementcollector1  
Also, could a flexible design be made by curving the interlocking plates somewhat on the z-axis (I don't quite know how to word this) so that each tile could flex outward and inward from the main body? This would allow the armor to be 'worn' in much the same vein as Kevlar, if the tiles could be made small enough.



Dragon Skin armour is a modern variant of scale armour, where the tiles overlap, rather than interlock like jigsaw puzzle pieces.

Whether you could get the same flexibility from smaller interlocking tiles, I don't know. Maybe.

For some applications - armoured vehicles, for example, flexibility is not the number one problem.



[Edited on 11-12-2016 by Peter Dow]

[Edited on 11-12-2016 by Peter Dow]

aga - 11-12-2016 at 09:50

3D. Hmm.

Could you design something so that there is a step to the tiles so that a piece overlaps the joints ?

Having a 'crack' at each joint seems like a point of vulnerability.

Peter Dow - 18-12-2016 at 06:09

Quote: Originally posted by aga  
3D. Hmm.

Could you design something so that there is a step to the tiles so that a piece overlaps the joints ?

Having a 'crack' at each joint seems like a point of vulnerability.

I already did just that 4 posts ago.

What part of the overlapping of joints in my bilayer trispokedovetile design in my previous post ...

Quote: Originally posted by Peter Dow  
Now to consider the important issue of interlocking trispokedovetiles against movement in the direction normal to the tiled plane, which for the application of tiled armour would be the normal to the armour surface, in the direction of a bullet's path.

BILAYER TRISPOKEDOVETILES

I propose that the unit armour tile be comprised of 2 joined trispokedovetiles with matching HEXAGON parameters but each with a different CIRCLE percentage.

For example, suppose we choose trispokedovetiles with CIRCLE = 100% and 121%.

C100.jpg - 12kB C121.jpg - 14kB

The reason for choosing C100 for the outer layer of the armour is because its 120 degree angle corners would be more robust.

The reason for choosing C121 for the inner layer of the armour is because CIRCLE = 121% offers the largest percentage where the neck attaching the outer part rings is at least twice the thickness of the ring, attempting to balance the robustness of the ring parts to the robustness of the neck versus tensile stresses.

why121.jpg - 16kB

Stacking and joining those together forms a bilayer trispokedovetile, "C100+C121".

C100C121.jpg - 18kB C100+C121_3D.jpg - 74kB

Drawing the 2 layers semi-transparently we can see how the bilayer trispokedovetiles would interlock in the normal to the plane.

100+121_crop.jpg - 131kB

2/3rds of the tiles can be slotted together, either the yellows and the blues or the yellows and the purples or the blues and the purples.

However the final 1/3rd of the tiles would not simply slot in and would have to be inserted by joining the two halves of the bilayer trispokedovetile in situ.

... did you not understand?


Peter Dow - 18-12-2016 at 06:13

TRISPOKEDOVETILES ROUTER CUTTING

My trispokedovetile CAD-CAM webpage now offers an (X,Y,Z) option for router cutting using rotary tool paths between spaced out tiles -
trispokedovetiles_spaced.png - 131kB

I've simulated the CNC router code -
routersimulation.jpg - 185kB

<i>Edit by moderator : Fixed broken links</i>

[Edited on 7-10-2017 by gdflp]

aga - 18-12-2016 at 06:15

Quote: Originally posted by Peter Dow  
I already did just that 4 posts ago.

... did you not understand?

Opps. Sorry.

unionised - 18-12-2016 at 06:39

Just a thought:
could you see if you can find the space key on your computer keyboard?

That will stop people wondering why you have poked these three times
https://www.zazzle.co.uk/ove+tiles

Or you could try some other way to stop it saying
TrisPokedOveTiles

Peter Dow - 7-7-2017 at 07:43

BEWARE BAD LINKS ABOVE!
I lost my website hosting in January. I was not "hacked" but the gcehosting administrator seems to have gone out of business and the hosting company he was using (godaddy) is serving various spurious adverts whenever anyone clicks one of my old links.
I have got the following pages back on-line with a different hosting company now so try these links.

LINKS -

I can't edit my earlier posts to correct the old links, sorry.
I've not done anything with this project since January.

gdflp - 9-7-2017 at 21:14

The links have been corrected.