Army tests wallpaperlike material that could keep out blast debris

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Army tests wallpaperlike material that could keep out blast debris
By Mark Abramson, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Monday, November 16, 2009

KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany — One idea the Army is testing to safeguard its soldiers is a wallpaperlike material that protects building occupants from blasts.

The material is called X-Flex and it is designed to protect people inside buildings at forward operating bases and at other potential targets. X-Flex was developed by Indiana-based Berry Plastics and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Officials say X-Flex is a fiber-reinforced polymer composite designed to work as a stretch-and-catch system. It is applied to a wall’s interior and then bolted to the ceiling and floor. When a blast detonates, the X-Flex stretches to absorb the blast to prevent deadly debris and shrapnel from spreading inside.

“If you get a large explosion, that wall is going to fragment and that is what is going to be your killer,” said Wayne Stroupe, a spokesman for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Engineer Research and Development Center in Vicksburg, Miss.

X-Flex, which can hold up to the elements, mold and fungus as well as blasts, has been impressive during blast tests at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., Stroupe said.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=66186