A world premiere: a material which changes its strength, virtually at the touch of a button. This transformation can be achieved in a matter of seconds through changes in the electron structure of a material; thus hard and brittle matter, for example, can become soft and malleable. What makes this development revolutionary, is that the transformation can be controlled by electric signals.
This world-first has its origins in Hamburg. Jörg Weißmüller, a materials scientist at both the Technical University of Hamburg and the Helmholtz Center Geesthacht, has carried out research on this groundbreaking development, working in cooperation with colleagues from the Institute for Metal Research in Shenyang, China.
The 51-year-old researcher from the Saarland referred to his fundamental research, which opens the door to a multitude of diverse applications, as "a breakthrough in the material sciences." The new metallic high-performance material is described by Prof. Dr. Jörg Weißmüller and the Chinese research scientist Hai-Jun Jin in the latest issue of the scientific journal Science. Their research findings could, for example, make future intelligent materials with the ability of self healing, smoothing out flaws autonomously.
The firmness of a boiled egg can be adjusted at will through the cooking time. Some decisions are, however, irrevocable -- a hard-boiled egg can never be reconverted into a soft-boiled one. There would be less annoyance at the breakfast table if we could simply switch back and forth between the different degrees of firmness of the egg.
Similar issues arise in the making of structural materials such as metals and alloys. The materials properties are set once and for all during production. This forces engineers to make compromises in the selection of the mechanical properties of a material. Greater strength is inevitably accompanied by increased brittleness and a reduction of the damage tolerance. Read more at sciencedaily.com ...
This world-first has its origins in Hamburg. Jörg Weißmüller, a materials scientist at both the Technical University of Hamburg and the Helmholtz Center Geesthacht, has carried out research on this groundbreaking development, working in cooperation with colleagues from the Institute for Metal Research in Shenyang, China.
The 51-year-old researcher from the Saarland referred to his fundamental research, which opens the door to a multitude of diverse applications, as "a breakthrough in the material sciences." The new metallic high-performance material is described by Prof. Dr. Jörg Weißmüller and the Chinese research scientist Hai-Jun Jin in the latest issue of the scientific journal Science. Their research findings could, for example, make future intelligent materials with the ability of self healing, smoothing out flaws autonomously.
The firmness of a boiled egg can be adjusted at will through the cooking time. Some decisions are, however, irrevocable -- a hard-boiled egg can never be reconverted into a soft-boiled one. There would be less annoyance at the breakfast table if we could simply switch back and forth between the different degrees of firmness of the egg.
Similar issues arise in the making of structural materials such as metals and alloys. The materials properties are set once and for all during production. This forces engineers to make compromises in the selection of the mechanical properties of a material. Greater strength is inevitably accompanied by increased brittleness and a reduction of the damage tolerance. Read more at sciencedaily.com ...
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