imm cologne 2019

•••6••• Innovationen Promising “super wood” New process could make wood as strong as titanium alloys E ngineers at the University of Maryland, College Park (UMD) have found a way to make wood more than ten times stronger and tougher than before, creating a natural substance that is stronger than many titanium alloys. “This new way to treat wood makes it twelve times stronger than natural wood and ten times tougher,” said Liangbing Hu of UMD’s A. James Clark School of Engineering and the leader of the team that did the research. “This could be a competitor to steel or even titanium alloys, it is so strong and durable. It’s also comparable to carbon fibre, but much less expensive.” Hu is an associate professor of materials science and engineering and a member of the Maryland Energy Innovation Institute. “It is both strong and tough, which is a com- bination not usually found in na- ture,” said Teng Li, the co-leader of the team and Samuel P. Langley Associate Professor of mechani- cal engineering at UMD’s Clark School. “As strong as steel” His team measured the dense wood’s mechanical properties. “It is as strong as steel, but six times lighter. It takes ten times more energy to fracture than natural wood. It can even be bent and moulded at the be- ginning of the process.” The team also tested the new wood material and natural wood by shooting bullet-like projectiles at it. The projectile blew straight through the natural wood. The fully treated wood stopped the projectile partway through. “Soft woods like pine or balsa, which grow fast and are more environmentally friendly, could replace slower-growing but denser woods like teak in furni- ture or buildings,” Hu said. “The paper provides a highly promising route to the design of lightweight, high performance structural materials, with tre- mendous potential for a broad range of applications where high strength, large toughness and superior ballistic resistance are desired,” said Huajian Gao, a pro- fessor at Brown University who was not involved in the study. “It is particularly exciting to note that the method is versatile for various species of wood and fairly easy to implement.” Neues Herstellungsverfahren: Lackmöbel ohne Lösemittel Damit Küchen oder andere Möbel das Prädikat Hoch- glanz erhalten, werden sie mit einer speziellen Folie in Klavierlack-Qualität beschichtet. Der spezielle Lack, der auf die Folie aufgetragen wird, besteht bis zur Hälfte aus Lösungsmitteln. Forscher des Leipziger Leibniz-Instituts für Oberflächenmodifizierung (IOM) wollen nun gemeinsam mit einem Industriepartner spezielle Lacke entwickeln, die ohne Lösemittel die zum Herstellen von Hochglanzfolien notwendige Dünnflüssigkeit haben. Zusätzlich soll die Farbe beim Auftragen auf die Folie mechanisch so bearbeitet werden, dass die für den Hochglanzeffekt verant- wortliche, sehr ebene Oberfläche entsteht. Das neue Verfahren soll dazu beitragen, Rohstoffe zu schonen und Energie zu sparen. A first step towards products such as flat-pack furniture Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University in Pitts- burgh, Pennsylvania, have used an inexpensive 3D printer to produce flat plastic items that, when heat- ed, fold themselves into predetermined shapes, such as a rose, a boat or even a bunny. Lining Yao, assistant professor in the Human-Computer Inter- action Institute and di- rector of the Morphing Matter Lab, said these self-folding plastic ob- jects represent a first step toward products such as flat-pack furni- ture that assume their fi- nal shapes with the help of a heat gun. Emergency shelters also might be shipped flat and fold into shape under the warmth of the sun. Self-folding ma- terials are quicker and cheaper to produce than solid 3D objects, making it possible to replace noncritical parts or produce prototypes using structures that approximate the solid objects. A computer-controlled process enables flat pie- ces of plastic produced in an inexpensive 3D printer to assume pre- determined 3D shapes when heated. Photo: Carnegie Mellon University Liangbing Hu, left, and Teng Li, right, are engineers at the University of Maryland, College Park who have found a way to make wood more than ten times stronger and tougher than before. Photo: University of Maryland Die neue Leichtigkeit des Steins – für faszinierend neue Möglichkeiten. Besuchen Sie uns in Halle 5.2, Gang C, Stand Nr. 029 #75295405© sedatseven– stock.adobe.com Grama Blend GmbH Industriestraße 44 – 46 92237 Sulzbach-Rosenberg /gramablend Tel. +49 96 61 – 10 43 0 info@gramablend.com www.gramablend.com