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Materials science and engineering researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have demonstrated that the rules of metal-bending aren't so hard and fast after all. They described their findings Aug. 9 in the journal Nature Communications.
Their surprising discovery not only upends previous notions about how metals deform, but could help guide the creation of stronger, more durable materials.
"This creates new opportunities for materials design," says Izabela Szlufarska, a professor of materials science and engineering at UW-Madison. "It adds another parameter we can control to enable strength and ductility."
Ductility is the ability of a metal to bend. Most approaches to increase a metal's strength do so at the expense of flexibility—and as metals become more resistant to bending, they're more likely to crack under pressure.
However, the researchers' new mechanism for bending might allow engineers to strengthen a material without running the risk of fractures.
It's an advance that holds particular interest for the United States Army, which has an urgent need for strong and durable materials in order to keep troops safe in combat zones.
"Professor Szlufarska has opened up an entirely new area for exploration for structural materials processing and design," said Michael Bakas, synthesis and processing program manager at Army Research Office in the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Army Research Laboratory. "By making such a high-impact discovery, Professor Szlufarska has potentially laid the technical foundation for the development of a new generation of advanced structural materials that could eventually be employed in future Army equipment and vehicles."
(Score: 4, Insightful) by maxwell demon on Sunday August 11 2019, @09:27AM (4 children)
So they find a new way to make better materials. Something that could have great uses in many different fields. And what is the first they think of? Military applications.
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 11 2019, @09:56AM (1 child)
If you're looking for funding to continue your research, best to hint at military applications.
Then the large coffers open and your project is secure for the foreseeable future.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Monday August 12 2019, @06:08AM
It doesn't mean that this is a happy reality.
And it also doesn't mean this sad reality is the reality of research in all countries of this world.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by MostCynical on Sunday August 11 2019, @10:04AM
TFA quotes a few people, one of whom is a military materials researcher. The military materials researcher is paid to find military applications for this sort of discovery.
*sometimes*, in one, unusual intermetal, bending occurs without breakage, and now they know why. Doesn't mean any other substances will do the same thing.
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 2) by Rupert Pupnick on Sunday August 11 2019, @01:44PM
But it’s just what we need: safer combat zones!