Shock-dissipating fractal cubes could forge high-tech armor
3D printed fractal structures with closely spaced voids dissipate
shockwaves five times better than solid cubes

Date:
July 7, 2020
Source:
DOE/Los Alamos National Laboratory
Summary:
3D printed cubes,with intricate fractal voids efficiently dissipate
shockwaves, potentially leading to new types of lightweight armor
and materials to better withstand explosions and impacts.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Tiny, 3D printed cubes of plastic, with intricate fractal voids built
into them, have proven to be effective at dissipating shockwaves,
potentially leading to new types of lightweight armor and structural
materials effective against explosions and impacts.


==========================================================================
"The goal of the work is to manipulate the wave interactions resulting
from a shockwave," said Dana Dattelbaum, a scientist at Los Alamos
National Laboratory and lead author on a paper to appear in the journal
AIP Advances. "The guiding principles for how to do so have not been
well defined, certainly less so compared to mechanical deformation of additively manufactured materials. We're defining those principles, due
to advanced, mesoscale manufacturing and design." Shockwave dispersing materials that take advantage of voids have been developed in the past,
but they typically involved random distributions discovered through
trial and error. Others have used layers to reverberate shock and release waves. Precisely controlling the location of holes in a material allows
the researchers to design, model and test structures that perform as
designed, in a reproducible way.

The researchers tested their fractal structures by firing an impactor into
them at approximately 670 miles per hour. The structured cubes dissipated
the shocks five times better than solid cubes of the same material.

Although effective, it's not clear that the fractal structure is the best shock-dissipating design. The researchers are investigating other void-
or interface-based patterns in search of ideal structures to dissipate
shocks. New optimization algorithms will guide their work to structures
outside of those that consist of regular, repeating structures. Potential applications might include structural supports and protective layers
for vehicles, helmets, or other human-wearable protection.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by
DOE/Los_Alamos_National_Laboratory. Note: Content may be edited for
style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. D.M. Dattelbaum et al. Shockwave dissipation by interface-dominated
porous structures. AIP Advances, 2020 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200707140932.htm

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