/sci/ - Science & Math

watermelon

diamond

>>3114331

doesnt diamond shatter easily?

Unobtainium

a sword with a gun built in. whatever material you want.

Titanium-coated depleted uranium.

>>3114339

>>3114339
Of course it does it's a fucking crystal.

>>3114352

Titanium coated depleted uranium with the blade laden with diamond dust.

Doesn't make it sharper, but better penetration.

>>3114352

why?

I was thinking about things like DU and titanium alloys and tungsten carbides (and also shit like carbon nanotubes), but then i realised i dont actually know shit about those things

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Superhard_materials

>>3114354
>>3114362

Hey fuck you both I knew it shattered, i just wasnt sure enough without checking, its fucking 4am!

>>3114374

Right, so which one is the absolute best?

>>3114377
it's 8pm here, bra.

>>3114374
I'd show HER a thing or two about superhard materials!

Steel.

>>3114389

inorite

>>3114391

why?

>>3114389
why?
what do you mean.
why not post it in this thread, I don't understand

>>3114368

Sounds good, but why? Why not just make the whole thing out of depleted uranium or titanium? What does adding diamond dust do?

Alloy of amirite, inorite, and amidoinitrite in a ratio of 24-36-40, respectively, cold forged.

bump

>>3114415

Depleted uranium gives the blade weight and power, titanium gives it a sharp, penetrating edge.
Diamond dust increases that penetrative power to the point that if you don't mind sacrificing the edge, you can actually stab into other metals.

Uranium to make your sword overpower others, Titanium and diamond dust to cut through armor.

>>3114439

how hard would it be to maintain a sword like that?

How long would it stay sharp?

>>3114439

also would the diamond dust make it all sparkly?

>>3114439
Titanium is very poor choice. it would be easily cut by hardened steel.

Titanium is strong, not hard. Significant difference.

>>3114327

>weight not a factor

It's critical!

Steel for cost/effectiveness.

Absolute best? Some complicated alloy of steel

>>3114433
Reduce that shit down to 6-9-10, you doublenigger.
You do not deserve those triple dubs!

>>3114449

But Uranium is very, very hard.

Best thing right now? Titanium coated with a mix of barium titanate and tin.

Best material known would be Graphene, but we don't know how to work with it well enough to make anything useful yet.

>>3114449

what would be a better choice? what would be the best choice?

>>3114454

>Absolute best? Some complicated alloy of steel

Damascus steel.

>>3114449
Also, titanium strength/weight ratio is very good, but weight/volume is suckshit.

To get a titanium sword as strong as a steel sword, it would have to be much larger than the steel sword, though it would still weigh less.

And because steel can be hardened, it would still deform or cut into the titanium sword.

>>3114462
fullretard.jpg

>>3114458
Better? Tungsten carbide for one.
Best? who fucking knows.

aluminum with titanium edges. maybe a DU tip for weight balance.

It depends on what kind of sword.

If it's a thrusting/fencing sword, you want the absolute minimum weight, with good stiffness and durability.

If it's a saber type sword, meant for cutting deep into unarmored opponents with a long draw, thinness of the blade (without sacrificing durability) is the main criterion.

Against chain-armored opponents, it needs a reasonable amount of mass (you can't slice iron, you need to break it), and the hardness and sharpness to split iron rings.

Against plate-armored opponents, the sword has to be designed for half-swording. Very tough and not too sharp. Think "battle crow bar". It's quite hard to improve significantly over a steel weapon in this case.

>>3114455
fraid not bro. It's almost as soft as lead.

Unobtanium

Graphene?

>>3114466
>He doesn't know what damascus steel is

>>3114433

>>3114479
>>3114455

You're both wrong. Uranium is only slightly softer than steel, it's neither very hard nor very soft.

It is, however, extremely dense.

>>3114454

I realise weight would normally be a critical factor, but as i'm doing this for research for a piece of fiction, and the character using it has superhuman strength, it isn't really important for my purposes. Hell if it was super heavy that would actually be a bonus.

>>3114484

But could you make a graphene sword today if you had the resources?

Diamonds
because minecraft

>>3114494
amidonitrite is a compound.
amidoinitrite is an element.

>>3114514

>but as i'm doing this for research for a piece of fiction,

>>3114501

Don't know, you'd have to research into it.

Why you wanna know anyway?

>>3114501
If your character is strong enough to wield an extremely heavy weapon, and heavy enough himself to counteract the inertia of said weapon with his own body, why the fuck does he need a weapon?

>>3114501 fictional character

Then use diamond and piss off

nanocarbon and GM spider silk ofcourse.

>>3114528

It doesn't have to be super heavy, and he wouldn't be able to counteract it's inertia if it was, I just didnt want to limit options according to weight. And he doesn't need a weapon, a weapon just makes things easier for him.

>>3114533

>implying I don't want an internally consistent fictional universe with realistic elements to balance the fantastical shit i plan to include

Since you're making shit up anyway, make it some fictional material like a compound derived from the refined baculum of a rare howler monkey or some shit.

>>3114555

what use would spider silk be for a sword? isnt its main advantage that is strong and flexible?

>>3114567
People always buy that kinda shit "oh yeah nature always makes shit better than humans like spider silk stronger than steel uh huh"

Some combination of bulat and vanadium steel. This allows the steel to be very hard, yet highly flexible, and retain its sharpness under stress.

>>3114557

it's ok, theres a singularity at the tip so all weight/mass is counteracted by the gravitational pull

>>3114573
>>3114574

Spider silk is freakishly strong, and a rope made of it would have greater strength than steel chains, but its properties would not help a sword in any way, being a FABRIC.

>>3114567

Sure i could if i wanted, but I wanted it to be something the character could realistically get his hands on in actual present day earth.

I'd make it out of a titanium-aluminum alloy.

Titanium for it's similar durability to steel, but of lighter weight.

Aluminum for it's weight reduction and strengthening characteristics when integrated with the above.

If he's got super strength, wouldn't he want a weapon made of a soft metal, and not care about an edge?

A hard weapon would snap under a super-swing, while a soft metal would bend, but he could just unbend it.

What does an edge matter to a super-strong character? A lead bar seems like it'd be better for him than a steel sword.

>>3114613

Can't cut stuff with a lead bar i spose. About the hard weapon snapping, I don't really think that would be the case, obviously the whole point of the thread was to find something that could take a beating, but he'd mostly be using it on unarmoured people

>>3114327
>hardness
>resilience
pick one

>>3114374
it's missing aluminum oxide

>>3114613
>but he could just unbend it.
unbend it too often and it'll break.

Oldschool damascus steel. Too bad none remembers how to forge it.

lol @ op for trying to make a supersword

>>3114639

>Can't cut stuff with a lead bar i spose

If you're super strong, fuck yes you can.

>but he'd mostly be using it on unarmoured people

All he'd need is a metal pipe.


Edges literally exist to cut through for NON super powered people.

A strong enough person could cut a man in half with a baseball bat.

>>3114587
Then just go with iron or steel. That's by far the most realistic option in present day earth.
Unless your character also happens to be a materials engineer at a industrial metal processing factory with the permission and ability to create an entire system for balancing and shaping very exotic metal alloys.

>>3114665

That's when you find another lead bar.

>>3114663
>iron
a pure iron would shatter like pottery if struck at something like a rock

Why not give him heavy and sharp axe? Huge momentum focused in small area combined with sharp edge.. he could use it like scyte to reap through hordes of enemies, cutting them in half.

>>3114670
>Iron
>Shatter

Pick one

>>3114665
>Implying you can't normalise

>>3114682
or a hammer? it has no maintenance, virtually unbreakable, and no sword can cut through it.

>>3114690
>knowledge
>ignorance
pick one

>>3114585
You could make some kind of fiber-reinforced plastic with spider silk. Like carbon fiber, but even stronger.

>>3114692
>implying you can do that in the midst of battle

Kruppstahl

That shit is magic.

>>3114660

>A strong enough person could cut a man in half with a baseball bat.

I lol'd, youre definitely right about it not being necessary for it to be a sword, but it's like his trademark, it totally has to be a sword. In fact, it even has to be a claymore, but hey.

>>3114663

Say he has a fuckload of money to have one made at such a place if he wanted. I'm probably going to go with high carbon steel at this point. I liked the sound of that DU + titanium + diamond dust deal, but I don't know if it would really be better.

The best composite materials woven from nano fibers up, with the best artificial diamond for random segments of the cutting edge.

>>3114682

Pretty much the idea, he'd be using a claymore or zwiehander, but with alot more speed and power than either weapon was ever designed for.

>>3114695

Gotta be a sword, its entirely an aesthetics thing, I totally realise he could basically use shit he found laying around if he wanted.

>>3114731
Also, what is his style?
Is he using his own strength to cut, or is he using inertia?
I guess the second..
Why limit yourself to single material? Why not use some kind of composite? Light and durable core, hard outsides and special coating for blade?
Dunno about specifics..

>>3114718
Then say medium carbon steel which gotten a carbon treatment around the edge, enhancing hardness but leaving some ductility. Also look up old katana making techniques if you're that into detail

>>3114748

Inertia, he'd be using his strength mostly to control the momentum and to move the weapon really fast, and im not limiting myself to anything. As long as its actually doable its fine.

>>3114754

Wasnt the whole folding thing to increase the strength of shitty steel? Is folding necessary with ultra high quality materials?

>>3114771
>Inertia
>those several hundred pounds of fat

>>3114754
>old katana making techniques

i'm not a sword expert, or a materials expert, but there are some key things being left out here considering the construction of swords:

a sword needs an edge that is very hard, and the rest needs to be able to flex (ductile) so it can withstand impact. typically, a forging process will do so in cases of steel, leaving the edge as mostly iron, and the other parts as carbon steel or somesuch.

in that sense, in combat, the wielder of a sword typically wanted to deflect a blow with the flat of his sword, and attack with the edge. this prevented notching; the edge is brittle and subject to damage easier so you don't want to hit another sword edge with it. my knowledge is limited about this subject, but a material is only going to be useful as a sword in these conditions, and so far it's become that way through thousands of years of forging failures and successes.

one of the biggest successes in weapons forging was Damascus steel, which was composed of different consistencies of steel throughout it in layers. it was ideal for swords because it fit best the details i described above. the steel was cast in india, and sent/sold to middle-eastern contingencies. these swords could cut through other (inferior) swords, as well as rocks, while maintaining their edge. we can't make this steel anymore, but we can mimic it with Damascene steel, if i remember correctly.

with it meant for a fictional character, i suggest you create a fictional forging technique that utilizes several materials. that said, you want to look up metallurgy for how might you combine metals for certain attributes.