Reality-bending Metamaterials Could Revolutionize Future Spacecraft Designs

University of Washington researchers have developed a novel solution to help reduce impact forces — for potential applications in spacecraft, cars and beyond. And the new approach was inspired by origami. » Subscribe to Seeker! http://bit.ly/subscribeseeker » Watch more Elements! http://bit.ly/ElementsPlaylist » Visit our shop at http://shop.seeker.com This breakthrough development could one day let us reuse spacecraft, build epic superhero suits, or even harvest energy for electronics. Inspired by the paper folding art of origami, the team created a paper model of a metamaterial (an artificial substance engineered to exhibit properties that we haven’t actually found in nature) that uses “folding creases” to soften impact forces and instead promote forces that relax stresses in the chain. Metamaterials are designed with repeating structures allowing them to direct and control the flow of electromagnetic or physical waves through them. They have incredible properties––like light-bending abilities or superconductivity––that come from their structure, not their substance. And so engineering teams, like this one at the University of Washington, can make reality-bending properties emerge from something as simple as acrylic and paper and this design in particular draws from the mathematical concepts of origami. These aeronautical engineers created a modular structure using shapes they call TCOs, Triangulated Cylindrical Origami. Unlike other metamaterials, which typically tend to harden under compression, this structure exhibits “strain-softening behavior.” This essentially means that the engineers found a way to turn a compression wave into a tension wave. So how will this new approach impact the future of spacecrafts, cars, and beyond? Find out in this Elements. #spacecrafts #metamaterials #origami #superconductivity #science #seeker #elements Read More: ‘Origami' Metamaterial Softens Impact Forces https://www.futurity.org/origami-metamaterial-impact-2076