Name: Plasteel. Also known as pearl steel or pearl metal. Description: Plasteel is a high durability composite material of rubium, various minerals and a synthetic nacre. Normally, plasteel has a vaguely pinkish hue to it with an iridescent sheen, with a surface texture and feel like that of common pearls. Despite its high durability, plasteel is very lightweight. Though its use in military armour is obvious, plasteel sees great use within the civil and industrial sectors of naian space thanks to its attractive properties as a general structural material. Plasteel is cheap, and can easily be moulded into an airtight form of plating, making it attractive for the creation of mechanical doors or bulkheads. In addition, plasteel is resistant to wear and tear, making it a viable replacement for things like boat hulls. Plasteel can also be made to be biocompatible, making it very useful in the medical sector as stents or implants. Abilities: Durable: Plasteel carries great tensile strength for a material of its weight. Its durability can be likened to various lower grade durasteel blends. Lightweight: Plasteel is very lightweight for its high durability. Elastic: Under normal operating temperatures, plasteel is highly elastic and good at holding its shape. Properly sloped armour can often deflect incoming projectiles with ease. Conditional Abilities: Weatherproof: Plasteel sees minimal wear and tear from things like weather and sun, and is resistant to water damage. Biocompatible: Plasteel has uses in biomechanics due to its innate biocompatability. Limitations: Hard to shape: Plasteel, due to not being a metal, cannot be easily reshaped. Most plasteel is casted in moulds or cut directly from large blocks. In order to reshape plasteel it must be completely broken down and recycled. Thermal susceptibility: Plasteel is devestated by thermal weapons like lasers or plasma. These pierce into the material and create cavities of rapidly expanding hot gas that can burst violently. Permanent Damage: Field repairs on plasteel is very difficult and damaged plates of the material must often be completely removed and replaced. Situational Limitations: Soft: Plasteel is not a hard material, meaning it scratches easily. Repeated weak trauma, although failing to pierce the material, will leave marks and scrapes. In addition, plasteel struggles to hold an edge for long, making it unsuitable for bladed weapons. How does it work?: Plasteel is a synthetic composite material which bears significant resemblance to nacre, an organic material renowned for its durability. Plasteel however improves on the organic formula by integrating various stellar materials, namely rubium, into its structure alongside various advanced metamaterial techniques to greatly augment plasteel beyond its natural capabilities. Plasteel is made up of an intricate pattern of microscopic, hexagonal plates of rubium alongside other materials (like aragonite) which are stacked in an interlocking pattern, providing a sturdy structure resistant to trauma. This is then held together by a synthetic nacre matrix, composed of various polymers like a synthetic chitin to provide flexibility and elasticity. This "brick and mortar" architecture ensures great structural integrity for its rather low weight. The minimal presence of metallic elements means plasteel is practically nonconducting, meaning its useless in electrical applications aside from as an insulator. Even then, plasteel is sensitive to heat, as great amounts cause the polymer chains in the material to break down, which can lead to structural failure in the material. Plasteel starts to break down if subjected to conditions of 150+ degrees celcius for an extended period of time. In addition, if struck by the exceedingly high thermal output of say lasers or plasma plasteel quickly sublimates, creating cavities of hot expanding gas that can cause cascading structural failure in the material, severely reducing durability. Flavour Text: Plasteel and similar artificial nacre materials have existed in other cultures for at least 1000 years, however plasteel as we know it today was revolutionized in naian space towards the beginning of the 3240's. Here plasteel was developed as a cheap, synthetic metal substitute for starship hulls and bulkheads. The material proved itself very useful and further research and development helped increase its strengths whilst reducing the price. Now plasteel is ubiquitous in naian space, and is exported in bulk to other galactic nations. Attainability: Open Tags: [Industrial] Category: Material Material Properties: Weight: 0.12-0.15 lbs per cubic inch. Durability: ~5 Flexibility: Good. Very elastic like spring steel. Thermal Conductivity: Poor. Thermal weapons will punch straight through the material, however heat wont spread. Electrical Conductivity: Nonexistent. Average Price: 0.13 Px / in^3 in naian space where the vast majority is produced. 0.16 - 0.21 Px / in^3 everywhere else.
