Purdue, GM Team on Energy-Absorbing Tech
The ongoing research recently received funding from the National Science Foundation.
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowPurdue University and General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) are working together to develop a new, energy-absorbing material. The school says the "honeycomb architecture" could possibly be 3-D printed and provide benefits in areas ranging from earthquake engineering to football helmets.
Lyles School of Civil Engineering associate professor Pablo Zavattieri says the potential to 3-D print the phase transforming cellular materials, or PXCMs, would make them less expensive and more practical than other technologies. He says the material can be made of metals, polymers or "anything that behaves elastically."
Nilesh Mankame with the General Motors Global Research & Development Center says the material "shows a lot of promise," but is not yet ready for commercialization. The researchers say the technology could also be used to make more flexible robots, which would be able to conform to various shapes.
The ongoing research recently received funding from the National Science Foundation.