Dominion War Redux

[Mikey]

In this case, ablative refers specifically to armor that is vaporized when struck, that vaporization carrying off the energy of the attack. So yes, it needs to be an actual material substance, not a field of some sort.

[McAvoy]

Vaporized in Star Trek yes. Ablative armor in the real world, is the sacrificial material to protect the rest of the structure.

[Mikey]

Yeah, but "Trek doesn't have any CHOBM armor that I've seen.

[Teaos]

"Ablative armor generators" given that ablation is the process by which material is removed from a surface to dissipate energy I'm pretty confident it was a slab of something solid. Be it ceramic, metal, or other.

While I agree with you mostly I made a long post over a year ago on this topic. If you look at the before and after photos of Voyager with the armour generators working, it apppears she puts of several meters of stuff. Far more mass than should be easily storable in the ship, which leads me to believe its not all solid.

[Mikey]

But if it uses replicator-type technology, the density of the armor could be different than the density of the source material, meaning you couldn't equate the mass by looking at the volume.

[Teaos]

But considering its armour and its whole point is to stop energy it has no great advantage in being less dense. It absorbs a bit of impact maybe but it would also have downsides in the fact that dence materials tend to be "Stronger" a lot of the time in trek ala nuetronium.

Also to be fair, unless they had MASSSIVE internal volume given up to storring the armour stock the armour would have to be literally tens of times less dence than its stock material.

[Mikey]

That's the reason for having the armor be less dense - so you could actually store enough of the component materials.

[stitch626]

At the density we're talking about, it would be near useless as armour.

[Vic]

But it's super advanced styrofoam armor!!

[Tsukiyumi]

Some of the most advanced armor available now is a gel that hardens on impact.

Of course, that wouldn't help against heat or energy effects from beam weapons.

[Vic]

"Foamed" metals would seem to be the way to go for an ablative effect.

[McAvoy]

I have no clue how the Defiant's ablative armor works. i have heard everything from holographic energy absorbing material to energy absorbong armor plating to polorized plating.

I always figure the Batmobile armor wasd replicated armor from the emitters. Damage or destroy it, the replicator fixes it. Just how it's powered, I have no idea.

[Tsukiyumi]

...I always figure the Batmobile armor wasd replicated armor from the emitters. Damage or destroy it, the replicator fixes it. Just how it's powered, I have no idea.

The matter has to come from somewhere. There'd be a limit to how many times you could replace it.

[Teaos]

Its simple E=MC^2, what ever mass you put on the outside of the ship has to come from an equal amount of mass or energy on the inside.

[Sionnach Glic]

Perhaps they simply pull the power out of the warp core? That thing's already got to be generating obscene amounts of power as it is.