In a bid for the sustainability of electric vehicles, a team of researchers have created a novel material that could provide a solution to the bulkiness of their batteries. A team of scientists at the University of Glasgow have created a new cellular metamaterial.
Interestingly, the metamaterial is an ultra-strong plastic with a 3D-printable plate-lattice composition. In addition, the material is tougher and lighter than forms of aluminum.
Called metamaterial, the new material has a cellular structure. The material is a solid with properties not found naturally. Due to the plate-lattice composition with intersecting layers of plates, the metamaterial exhibits unusually high strength and stiffness. In fact, the stiffness of the material is one of the reasons it is very tough but extremely light at the same time.
Meanwhile, the metamaterial could be printed in 3D format for use in automotive, marine, aircraft, and other industries, opine scientists.
Prior to this, scientists tested three types of typical plate-grid that they designed and built. Of the three, one was a simple cube cast from three intersecting plates. The second cube a bit more complex in design, and the third featured a more multifaceted design. The tests involved testing the impact absorbance that can be attained in these structures.
For the test, scientists dropped 16.7 kg weight from different heights on these materials. Following testing, the one with hybrid design that incorporated elements of all three typical plate-lattice designs featured to be most effective for absorbing impacts, found the scientists. Not only this, the one with hybrid design featured displayed better impact characteristics than aluminum metamaterials with similar micro architected design.
