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Cesar Flores
CE-221L
10/9/14
Weekly Tweet Assignment:

The following tweet was posted by Gizmag, the tweet is titled:
Microstructured materials as strong as steel yet less dense than water. It
links to an article originally posted on Karlsuhe Institute of Technologys website:
kit.edu by Kosta Schinarakis on February 2, 2014. The article describes
microstructures lightweight materials of great stability.
This new microstructured material could potentially be used in the near
future as a construction material. Lightweight construction materials could be of
great advantage for the industry as they can withstand a much greater load than
those currently used materials. During lab testing the material reached a very high
stability. The current microstructure exceeds the stability/density ratio or bones,
massive steel, including aluminum.
The materials framework is constructed of a ceramic-polymer composite,
which is highly stable; the individual elements have a thickness of a few hundred
nanometers only. Their microstructure is light less dense than water itself. It is
important to note that their stability relative to their weight exceeds that of massive
materials, such as high-performance steel or aluminum. These lightweight
construction materials were inspired by the framework structure of bones and the
shell structure of the bees honeycombs. To produce the lightweight construction
materials, 3D laser lithography was applied. In which laser beams harden the
desired microstructure in a photoresist. Then, this structure is coated with a
ceramic material by gas deposition. The structures produced were later subjected to
compression tests to study their properties.
This microstructured material is still in the early stages of its development.
However, it has already yielded amazing results which points towards a good future
use of this material. More specifically as a construction material; industry is always
looking for implementations to their practices and material choices. Weight and
bearing capacity play an extremely important factor when it comes to structures.
This is true almost all of the time, as the weigh of members within the structure
greatly limit the structure in terms of strength and stability.












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References
Schinarakis, K. (2014, February 4). KIT - KIT - Media - Press Releases - PI 2014 -
Lightweight Construction Materials of Highest Stability Thanks to Their
Microarchitecture. Retrieved from
http://www.kit.edu/kit/english/pi_2014_14594.php