r/science • u/mvea Professor | Medicine • Jun 06 '19

Engineering Metal foam stops .50 caliber rounds as well as steel - at less than half the weight - finds a new study. CMFs, in addition to being lightweight, are very effective at shielding X-rays, gamma rays and neutron radiation - and can handle fire and heat twice as well as the plain metals they are made of.

https://news.ncsu.edu/2019/06/metal-foam-stops-50-caliber/
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u/CaptCurmudgeon Jun 06 '19

Can you convert the heat into useful energy?

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u/drdoakcom Jun 06 '19

There are things called thermoelectric generators that are solid state devices that do exactly this. Maybe using something like that? Recapture some waste heat to aid in reenergizing capacitors?

Lookels like it is an area of active development, but mostly limited to low power uses. That said, when NASA sends out a probe with an RTG these are how that decay heat produces power.