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The magnet turns the material from soft to hard

07.12.2018

A metamaterial has been developed that behaves completely different from natural materials, from which robots or next-generation sports helmets can be created. The metamaterial is a network of plastic tubes filled with a liquid that becomes more viscous in a magnetic field, causing the tubes to thicken.

Christopher Spadacchini, Materials Engineer at Livermore National Laboratory. Lawrence in California, and colleagues 3-D printed gratings consisting of 5 millimeter-long plastic racks and injected a mixture of small particles of iron and oil into them. In the absence of a magnetic field, iron microparticles remained randomly scattered throughout the oil. But under the influence of a magnet, these iron microparticles lined up in chains along the magnetic field lines, making the liquid more viscous and the lattices more rigid.

A solid piece of material filled with iron microparticles would be heavy and expensive to manufacture. According to co-author Julia Jackson, an engineer at Livemore Laboratories, creating tubular structures makes this changeable material easier.

The researchers tested individual "unit cells" of the new material - hollow structures that together can form large lattices. If the cell was at a distance of 8 cm from the magnet, and then it was moved to a distance of 1 cm from the magnet, then the rigidity of the structure increased by about 62 percent.

In future technologies, this material could be connected to devices that use electricity to generate magnetic fields, called electromagnets. The material, which can become softer or stiffer as needed, could be used to make next-generation sports pads or helmets with custom shock absorption, Jackson says. Robots with variable rigidity can squeeze into small spaces, yet be strong enough to move other objects.

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The cameras non-contactly record several basic indicators: pulse, blink rate and speed, the position of the eyebrows and mouth, and the temperature of the human body. After analyzing the results, the system determines the strength (from mild boredom to extreme excitement) and the modality of emotions experienced by a person. The latter indicator covers the full range of "feelings" - from complete dissatisfaction with oneself to extreme complacency, and all states in between: fear, anxiety, discontent, irritation, anger, deep unhappiness, discomfort, sadness, depression, boredom, drowsiness, fatigue, relaxation, peace and lightness, contentment, happiness, joy, delight, euphoria, etc.

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