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Originally Posted by DAT
DARPA is funding research at INEEL that is investigating a Structural Amorphous Metal (SAM) that temporarily hardens and thickens/constricts when impacted. Theoretically at least, tightly linked rings of this SAM would harden and constrict when impacted by a crushing attack. Adjacent rings would harden and constrict from the initial rings constricting and so on. This would cascade outward with the net effect of flexible links in the area around the impact site temporarily becoming like a ridged plate. This "plate" would allow the kinetic energy from the crushing impact to be spread over a larger area. After the impact energy is dissipated, the rings return to their original condition and the armor is flexible again. End result is a “flexible armour” more resistant to crushing.
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I have been reading about this research for years. Chinese mountain scale would have cost them a lot less. Maybe Pinnacle wants to try their Dragonscale using the Chinese pattern ;) The above wouldn't work with a mail mesh though. In order to make mail flexible you need a fair amount of free play between the links. Making the weave tight enough to shock harden would mean that the initial mesh would be too rigid. It might work on the chest but nowhere that needs more flexibility.