Tooth enamel will help make aircraft stronger
American scientists have developed similar to tooth enamel is a composite material.
A group of scientists from the University of Michigan have developed a synthetic composite material, the structure and properties that mimic tooth enamel. It is assumed that the material will be applied in aircraft design, electronics, chassis parts and other arrangements that are subject to strong vibration stresses. A description of the work published in the journal Nature, and briefly the content is contained in the statement of the University.
Materials that can effectively absorb the vibration, usually quite soft and may not be used in rigid structures and mechanisms. For the development of a lightweight, durable and reliable material, the researchers decided to study biological materials that carry permanent shock: animal bones, shells, shells and teeth.
It turned out that unlike many natural materials, exposed to significant changes in the process of evolution, structure of tooth enamel is practically not changed.
The enamel of the fossil of the Tyrannosaurus Rex, walrus, sea urchin and modern humans has a similar structure.
Scientists came to the conclusion that the enamel has the most effective structure in order to withstand the permanent loads during the life of a living organism.
Inspection of the data showed that the modulus of elasticity (the ability of a material to elastic deformation) and the strength of the new composite material are 39,8 +/- 0,9 and 1,65 +/- 0,06 gigapascal respectively. For comparison, the human tooth enamel similar figures are 62-108 and 1.1−4.9 gigapascal respectively. The modulus of elasticity aircraft CFRP depending on the used polymers is from 50 to 140 GPA, and the strength is from 0.4 to 1.5 gigapascal.
Now American researchers intend to Refine the new technology of emulatory composite materials. In addition, can be modified and the materials themselves. The fact that in the finished composite, the proportion of zinc oxide was only 67 percent, and the rest of the volume fell to the polymer. Perhaps a slight increase in the proportion of zinc oxide in a new composite will increase its strength without sacrificing modulus.
Today in aviation used several types of composite materials. Increasingly, designers are beginning to use carbon fiber. The details of such material are produced by two main methods. The first is a carbon pre-impregnated with a polymer, after which the finished part wikiepedia in layers and baked in the oven for rejection. In the second method, the FRP sheets or carbon fiber layers are laid out, and then vacuum-impregnated with resin and baked in an oven.
Last summer, researchers from mit have proposed in the manufacture of composite parts to sew together layers of carbon fibre together with carbon nanotubes. The developers have tested the proposed method and found that composite parts made from stitched carbon fiber nanotubes, turned out to be 30 percent stronger than conventional composite elements. The stitching of the layers to substantially increase the strength of CFRP parts for the shift of the layers is the most weak point of composites.
Nadezhda Bessonova