graphene, in itstwo-dimensional form, graphene is thoughtto be the strongest of all known materials. but translating thattwo-dimensional strength into usefulthree-dimensional materials
materials that can be used in 3d printing, has posed quite the challengeto researchers for decades. but now a team of mitengineers has successfully designed a new 3-d materialwith 5% the density of steel and 10 times the strength.
making it one of the strongestlightweight materials known. and by analyzing thematerial's behavior down to the levelof individual atoms, they were also able to producea mathematical framework that can accurately predictexperimental results. to test their material,the researchers printed 3-d models madepurely of commercial plastic and subjected them tovarious compression tests, to see how much they couldhandle before the structure
begins to crumble. here we see two 3-dgyroid models made from the same exact materials. their only difference isone is composed of thicker walls than the other. once stress is applied,we almost immediately noticed two verydifferent reactions. the model composed ofthinner, more flexible walls enabled it to fail graduallyupon increasing deformation.
while the other withthicker stiffer walls is able to store muchmore deformation energy which has been releasedin a more severe explosion like manner. ultimately, theirnew findings show that the crucial aspectof the new 3d forms has more to do withtheir unusual geometrical configuration, than withthe material itself. which suggests that similarstrong lightweight materials
could be made from avariety of materials with similar geometric features. having the ability to tunethe mechanics of a material by simply adjusting itsgeometry opens the door to a wide variety ofpractical applications. including strong, lightweight,structural materials for airplanes,cars, buildings, and
other large-scale applications. because of theircontinuous porous geometry
and large surfacearea they could also have applications forfiltration and energy storage.
