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New Metamaterial Could Let a Car Be Its Own Airbag

posted by on Wednesday January 25 2017, @03:59PM   Printer-friendly
from the we-laymen-call-it-silly-putty dept.

Phoenix666 writes:

Now you can be both rubber and glue:

Rubber and steel are at different ends of the spectrum when it comes to hardness, and wherever an object falls on that scale is typically where it will stay. But researchers at the University of Michigan have now developed a metamaterial that can change the stiffness of its surface, from hard to soft and back, in response to a small amount of stress.

As artificial materials that can be finely tuned for a specific purpose, metamaterials can do some pretty incredible things that you won't find in nature. Interestingly, what they're made of doesn't seem to matter: instead, their attributes stem from their structure, and by manipulating that, engineers can develop metamaterials that could replace optic lenses, make objects effectively invisible, or create vehicle parts that are both very strong and very light.

The University of Michigan team says its new metamaterial specializes in switching its surface between hard and soft states. Applying a small amount of strain allows that stiffness to be changed by several orders of magnitude, without damaging or weakening the material itself.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 25 2017, @05:01PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 25 2017, @05:01PM (#458530)

    This looks like interesting research, but until car dashboards and steering wheels are shaped like airbags, there isn't much point in making them extra soft. It's not just that the airbag is soft, it's also right next to your body and head to catch you and give you a nice "relatively-low-acceleration" ride as your body matches the new vehicle velocity (during a crash).

  • (Score: 2) by Scruffy Beard 2 on Wednesday January 25 2017, @05:06PM

    by Scruffy Beard 2 (6030) on Wednesday January 25 2017, @05:06PM (#458533)

    Yeah, I was thinking: why would you want your car to explode on contact?

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 25 2017, @06:26PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 25 2017, @06:26PM (#458568)

      I drive a Formula One car, you insensitive clod.

  • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday January 25 2017, @05:24PM

    by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday January 25 2017, @05:24PM (#458541) Journal

    I thought the headline was inspiring.

    A car could be its own air bag.

    Next, I want an aircraft to be its own air sickness bag.

    --
    For some odd reason all scientific instruments searching for intelligent life are pointed away from Earth.

  • (Score: 2) by Nerdfest on Wednesday January 25 2017, @05:29PM

    by Nerdfest (80) on Wednesday January 25 2017, @05:29PM (#458542)

    Still, not having dashes, steering wheels,etc, that will absorb impact as well is an added bonus. Also great for passengers that don't have airbags.