Lego Tech Deck Snolbord Sope

CREATE smart materials that repairs itself

As if "Terminator", is able to regenerate their cracks and recover its original shape after suffering a serious injury.

Researchers at Arizona State University working on a new type of materials (polymers) able to recover his form after suffering severe structural damage through the use of an infrared laser and fiber optics.
By introducing an optical fiber mesh in the internal structure of these polymers, researchers have managed to make smart materials are even smarter, so much so that they can determine for themselves whether they have been damaged, where they been damaged, to quantify the problem and assess how to begin the restoration process automatic. If something happens to the material, to the point of deforming or breaking the fiber optic network, an infrared laser could send heat pulses over the network re-achieving its original guidance specifically on the problem area, says the web ScienceDaily.

To travel into space

This heat would be responsible for increasing the material's resistance to deformation and will support the restoration process (executed by the material itself and using the heat absorbed) to recover almost 96 % of its original shape and structure. Ie a material capable of recovering from fractures such as cracks, in order to "heal their wounds." The objective of developing "adaptive autonomous structures" imitate is the capacity of biological systems, such as bone, trying capable of detecting the presence of damage, halt its progression, and regenerate . Other potential applications for these polymers is downsizing of structures to travel into space . Could be compressed into small dimensions and once in the workplace, applying thermal energy to be able to recover their original shape and size.

The material tested is able to increase its strength after a heat recovery by a factor of up to 11 times. The cracks can be closed using the memory effect way "to recover almost all the format and the original force of the object. In fact, after the crack is closed, the new material is almost five times stronger than the original model , although it has been stretched, bent or broken beyond their original forms . The transformation of matter and healing can be applied, while the structure is in operation, a fact that has not been possible with existing techniques. No doubt this is a remarkable advancement of plastic materials from the industry promote children's toys to building structures.