A Material that Expands Under Pressure

So is this a metal or polymer???,

Material science is way above me. but it is interesting, just like non-Newtonian fluids for body armor... I wonder if they could develop a alloy or blend with these two components and their characteristics..

I agree with Phoenix: Thinking about meta-materials makes my brain hurt. How do the "makers" get the stuff to assemble in this precise arrangement? How do they build the levers that cause the pipe-fitting-shaped bits to push apart?

don't know how this effects strength or what its strength initially is... but anti-frost breaking pipes would be an asset.

but I think right now, all of that is speculation... because the fight against mother nature is tough.

editing time just ran out....

your comment of;

levers that cause the pipe-fitting-shaped bits to push apart?

gave me the idea of ruptured resistant pipes due to frost/freezing, and not the pipe-like micro structure you talked about...

the other thing is what are the limitations... to what degree does it expand... and depending on the environment,... is there any chance for a lack of a better word of the possibility of it going critical, ... if its incased in a material in of itself or with similar properties and it being put under put underpressure.

It's these physical property's is why I think its interesting. It makes your think.

They use Keebler elves. They live in hollow trees.

Why, with 3D laser microlithography combined with a serendipitous mechanism, of course.

I have no idea what that means but it sounded good in the abstract.

Here's part of it:

"Qu and colleagues fashioned a microcube of their metamaterial, described in a paper accepted to Physical Review X, from a plasticlike substance, using a microversion of 3-D printing."

Still pretty vague though.

Me and my buddy James, seem to know this material too well._{(Grin)... Oh, yes it does expands like crazy under pressure.}

Hush!!!

This is really interesting! question remains what range of materials can be made in such a meta-material construct.

What could this do for a weave of strong tensile fibers such that intense pressure (from a bullet?) would also make them expand, and resist the impact?

I don't think this is as clever as it first appears: it's pressure not force which makes the whole structure expand. You could probably make something similar on a larger scale with modelling balloons.

I don't think this is as clever as it first appears:

Other than, things may not actually be as simple as it first appears to be at first glance, and even if it is simple... I would then still put it as clever, ... but I'll reserve any more comments about whether its clever or not.

almost like a lattice... (Buckminster Fuller comes to mind) that's triggered by pressure... and at what pressure?. Does it return to its original shape when the pressure is released/removed?...

Almost like shape-memory alloys... i.e. Muscle wire.

On what scale is this skeletal, for truly it was mentioned as a microstructure. I tend to agree it would need be a nanostructure to fully enjoy capacity as a seal material.

Hi Randall, I totally agree! See post #21 and replies.

Maybe a self adjusting suspension system in the car or truck?

Using meta-phors to describe meta-materials. I'll give that a GA!

Thank yee, pilgrim!

We're just passin' through!

Metaphors be with you!

--Yoda

An excellent analysis. I agree - this is no more that a clever mechanism. It might be able to increase it's 3D perimeter if encased in an envelope, but that is not true expansion. GA!

Foam rubber and such expands under pressure.. until the warranty expires.

.. maybe I should have read the article.

Question, how much does a metal compress under pressure?

Comment: Brains seem to expand under pressure, else you would not get any head ache when under duress, or would you?

That isn't your brain that is aching, it is the knotted and tensed muscles and blood vessels outside the cranium that are having fits.

Try relaxing with controlled breathing.

What is next? A material that Cools down when heated up?

If any of this makes any sense, it is unlikely that thermodynamica are not working. There must be a tradeoff, like marerial consumption.

Sinking Ice

• Forcibly heat up water until it boils. Evaporating is a cooling process.
• Forcibly cool water until it freezes. Freezing is a warming process.

No material consumption whatsoever, just phase changes.

• Forcibly freeze cold water. Its volume increases. Now that is magical.
• Forcibly freeze water under high pressure(>5000psi.) You get ice denser than water. That is magic that few people know.

There are a bunch of polymorphs of ice many of which are denser than water. Take a look at this symmetric proton stuff ice-ten at a density of 2.51g/cm³.

thewildΩtter ◊ ! <- thewildotter with a heavy ice cube.

You can get this material pretty easily, too, but the kickback is steep.