Researchers at the University of Missouri have developed a prototype of a thin, lightweight “metamaterial” that can (The Smart Model Defies Newton’s Laws of Motion) control the direction and strength of energy waves.
For more than 10 years, Guoliang Huang, Huber and Helen Croft Chair in Engineering at the University of Missouri, has studied the unusual properties of “metamaterials” – man-made materials that reflect the properties of nature as Newton explained.
Law of Motion-in his long-term quest to design a better metamaterial. Huang’s goal is to help control “elastic” energy waves that pass through large structures – such as airplanes – without light and small “metastructures”.
“For many years, I have been working on the challenge of how to use mathematical mechanics to solve engineering problems,” Huang said.
“Traditional methods have many limitations, including size and weight. Therefore, I investigated how we can find another solution using a material that weighs less and can still handle repeated sounds from large structures, such as airplanes.
Now, Huang is taking a step closer to his goal. In a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), Huang and his colleagues developed a metamaterial prototype that uses electrical signals to control both the direction and strength of energy waves passing through a solid strength.
Potential applications for its innovation include military and commercial uses, such as controlling radar waves by directing them to scan a specific area of interest or controlling vibrations caused by wind waves.
“This metamaterial has incredible density,” Huang said. “Therefore force and acceleration do not move in the same direction, giving us a poor way to organize the structure of the structure of matter, or property to violate Newton’s second law.”
This is the first physical understanding of contrast density, Huang said.
“For example, this metamaterial could be useful for monitoring the health of civil structures such as bridges and pipelines as active sensors by helping to detect any damage that may be difficult to see with the human eye.”
“Active Metamaterials to Achieve Different Density,” is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
Source: University of Missouri
