Surabaya Technology Institute Students Developing Green Bullet

Surabaya, E. Java (Antara) - A group of five students majoring in Materials and Metallurgy from the Institute Technology of Surabaya (ITS), East Java, are creating an environment friendly bullet, which bounces back on impact and cause no harm. "We are developing a frangible bullet," Khoiril Metrima Firmansyah, the team leader of the Research Student Creativity Program (PKM-P) ITS, remarked here on Thursday. Accompanied by colleagues Albertus Septyantoko, Mochammad Ghulam Isaq Khan, Paiman Jhony, and Rosena Mardliah, he explained that the frangible bullet will disintegrate after striking an object. In addition, the bullet does not contain the element Pb (Plumbum), so the bullet can be classified as a green bullet or an environment friendly bullet. "The bullet is environmentally friendly as it does not contain Pb," he noted. Khoiril further elaborated that the green bullet employs the powder metallurgy method. "The principle of the method is to compact metal powders with a certain pressure and then heating it below its melting temperature," he stated. The metal particles will fuse as a result of mass transformation due to the atomic diffusion mechanism on the surface of the particles. "The stages of powder metallurgy process are the characterization of the powders that include their size and distribution, form, chemical composition, and their mixing with corrosion-proof materials," he explained. (*)