Engineers at Monash University have pioneered a breakthrough in recyclable material that could revolutionise the construction industry, and be used in manufacturing, electronics, aeronautical settings, and even in space exploration.
The researchers at the Melbourne university's Department of Material Science and Engineering are leading a global team to develop archimats, an emerging area of architectural materials with organised intertwined or interlocked inner architecture.
Archimats can be engineered for superior strength, enhanced ductility, high tolerance to damaged, good thermal insulation and sound absorption, flexibility, improved compliance and energy absorption.
Professor Yuri Estrin, an Honorary Professorial Fellow at Monash University's Department of Materials Science and Engineering, said the archimats are also easy to assemble and disassemble and that they are almost totally recyclable.
The construction industry definitely benefit from the new material along with many other areas involving engineering, according to Professor Estrin.
“Archimats therefore offer smarter, safer and more sustainable materials for use in manufacturing and industrial design, with the building industry being arguably the greatest potential beneficiary of this design concept,” he explained.
“Archimats are also suitable for micro-manufacturing. They can be produced using desktop or benchtop manufacturing processes, without the need for heavy equipment and large amounts of material.
“This opens up new possibilities for industry to explore the use of archimats for application in smart manufacturing, in particular the development of gear for micro-electromechanical systems, micro devices and miniaturised drones, as well as superior structural materials for the automotive and aerospace industries.”
Professor Estrin was invited to contribute a review of his research to the Hall of Fame edition of the journal, Advanced Engineering Materials, and a monograph about this emerging research area in a new book, Architectured Materials in Nature and Engineering.
Image: Mortarless construction: rapidly deployable pavements composed of interlocked tetrahedron-shaped blocks made from different materials.