The material displays characteristics across a wide temperature range aiding versatile applications:
There is always a trade-off when balancing strength and flexibility. One is achieved at the cost of the other. While a flexible, shape-shifting aircraft can deliver benefits for higher energy efficiency and faster transportation, these cannot be achieved by risking the safety of the passengers using a material that lacks proper strength.
Researchers at the National Institute of Materials Science (NIMS) in Japan may have just found a way to achieve both strength and flexibility in a material without making any sacrifices on either.
Previous research in this area has identified that an alloy made from titanium and nickel has special properties, like stretching to limits far higher than those of other metallic alloys while keeping its new form. When the alloy’s temperature is increased, it can also return to its original form.
Leave a reply