As the world’s raw and “dumb” materials decline, manufacturing and technological innovations are allowing humans to push for continued production and progress.
As the world’s raw and “dumb” materials decline, manufacturing and technological innovations are allowing humans to push for continued production and progress.
An ever-rising population has created demand for ever more farms, fisheries and mines. Research has pushed deeper and wider on our planet, but still, natural resources are in decline.
This large-scale exploitation extends from the last half of the 18th century and the start of the industrial revolution.
Interestingly, it was around the same time that scientists discovered materials with “smart” properties. They were capable of producing what is known as piezoelectricity which is generated as a result of the application of mechanical stress.
One ‘smart’ way to do more in a world with depleted materials is to use less
But why did we hold off on developing further? Why does it seem that only now we are getting serious about materials with awe-inspiring properties, such as the ability to self-heal, or to mime biological systems with their ability to regenerate?
Is it a modern obsession to look ahead to further technology advancement? Or is it from ancient times that we have tried to do more with less?
If we look back far enough for inspiration, we might find the Romans, who, probably more intentionally than not, used lime mortar and volcanic ash in their concrete, which researchers have found gave self-healing properties.
Smart materials development is happening inside Adidas and Boeing; it is sparked by manufacturing
One “smart” way to do more in a world with depleted materials is to use less. And it’s certainly requiring less money and manpower to 3D print concrete structures (see page 42). University of Southern California professor of civil and environmental engineering Berokh Khoshnevis has developed the mechanical technique, it’s now just a matter of addressing the economic realities.
Perhaps we can even cut out the middle man, and just let the materials organise and assemble themselves. This is what’s going on at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) where “4D printing” (see page 32) is redefining what a material can and cannot be.
Self-Assembly Lab founder Skylar Tibbits certainly thinks that the smart path is embedded intelligence. Putting the processes within materials is the way forward rather than forcing raw materials to do our bidding through something as brutally simple as “electricity”, he says.
Source: Smart materials | Overview | Article | New Civil Engineer
