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Researchers from the US Army and Texas A&M have developed a material that they say can “self-heal.”
Stimulus-responsive, 3D-printable polymeric materials fueled comparisons to the shapeshifter T-1000 Terminator character from the movie “Terminator 2: Judgment Day.”
The materials could be used to transform drones and robotic platforms, according to aerospace engineer Dr Frank Gardea, who is the project’s principal investigator for the Army’s Research Lab’s Capability Development Command. army combat.
THE ARMY IS DEVELOPING DRONES THAT CAN CHANGE SHAPE MID-FLIGHT
“As research matures, the epoxy material should have a capacity for massive reconfigurability and built-in intelligence allowing it to autonomously adapt to its environment without any external control,” explains the military on its website Web. “Currently, the stimulus to which this material responds is temperature, which the researchers first selected because of its ease of use in laboratory tests.”
The movie “Terminator 2: Judgment Day”, directed by James Cameron. Seen here, the T-1000 Terminator, in partial liquid metal form, suffers a gunshot to the head.
(Photo by CBS via Getty Images)
The researchers introduced the material’s light reactivity because it is easier to control and apply, according to Gardea.
The research, which is still in the discovery phase, is published in the peer-reviewed journal Advanced Functional Materials.
ARMY EYES PEARLS IN AN INNOVATIVE PROJECT FOR BOLSTER BODY ARMOR
The army is targeting this type of research as part of its Future Vertical Lift initiative, which aims to improve knowledge of material behavior for military technologies of the “distant future”.
Researchers from the Army and Texas A & amp; M see the potential of synthetic materials for future applications in realistic prosthetic limbs, self-healing helicopter blades and morphing drones.
(Courtesy Texas A&M University)
Army researchers, for example, eye drones that can change shape in mid-flight. Experts from the Army Research Lab presented their work on a new tool to develop small shape-shifting drones at the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Aviation Forum’s Virtual Forum and Exhibition event on June 16 .
Researchers from the military and Texas A&M University have published the results of a two-year study on the fluid-structure interaction. “Their research resulted in a tool, which will be able to quickly optimize the structural configuration of Future Vertical Lift vehicles while correctly taking into account the interaction between air and structure”, explains the Research Laboratory of the army, in a statement released earlier this year.
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The movie “Terminator 2: Judgment Day”, directed by James Cameron. Seen here from left, the T-1000 Terminator, in liquid metal form, and Arnold Schwarzenegger (as the T-800 Terminator). Screenshot. Paramount Pictures.
The US military has a strong focus on the development of innovative materials. University of Buffalo researchers and Army scientists, for example, simulated mother-of-pearl, or the outer coating of pearls, to create a lightweight plastic described as 14 times stronger and eight times lighter than steel. In a statement released last year, the military said the material was “ideal for absorbing the impact of bullets and other projectiles.”
Follow James Rogers on Twitter @jamesjrogers
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