Unlike conventional petroleum-based plastics, polylactic acid (PLA) plastic is mass produced by chemical synthesis using raw materials derived from corn. The production of PLA contributes less CO2 to the atmosphere than that of conventional plastics and offers superior biodegradability after disposal. Because PLA plastics are often more expensive than conventional ones, researchers are developing ways to add value to PLA plastics.
NEC Corporation’s Dr. Masatoshi Iji has developed a PLA-based bioplastic with shape memory and recyclability. The polymer deforms with heat and external pressure and remains in that altered shape when cooled. Once reheated, the plastic returns to its original shape. Shape memory conventionally requires plastics with a cross-linked structure, which prohibits melting and thus recycling. However, NEC’s shape-memory polymer utilizes a characteristic called thermo-reversible cross-linking. The material can be deformed and restored to its original shape by heating at the temperature of a hairdryer (approx. 140°F [60°C]), but if heated to a typical molding temperature 320°F (160°C) the cross-linked structure dissociates, causing the material to melt and enabling easy recyclability.
This recyclable, shape-memory bioplastic allows users to deform the material into any shape, making possible all kinds of new products and applications, like futuristic wearable electronic equipment. [Contact:
NEC, Tsukuba, Japan.]
Labels: 06, plastic, transformational
Structural polymers are susceptible to damage: cracks form deep within the structure where detection is difficult and repair is almost impossible. Damage in polymeric coatings, adhesives, microelectronic components, and structural composites can span many length scales. Structural composites subject to impact loading can sustain significant damage on centimeter length scales, which in turn can lead to subsurface millimeter scale delaminations and micron-scale matrix cracking. Coatings and microelectronic packaging components have cracks that initiate on even smaller scales. Once cracks have formed within polymeric materials, the integrity of the structure is significantly compromised.
Inspired by biological systems in which damage triggers a healing response, Scott White at the Beckman Institute at the University of Illinois developed a structural polymeric material with the ability to autonomically heal cracks. The incorporation of a microencapsulated healing agent and a catalytic chemical trigger within an epoxy matrix accomplished this healing process. An approaching crack ruptures embedded microcapsules, releasing healing agent into the crack plane through capillary action. Polymerization is triggered by contact with the embedded catalyst, bonding the crack faces. [Contact:
Beckman Institute, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL.]
Labels: 06, plastic, polymer, transformational
TOPO is a series of Corian tables with built-in reconfigurable landscapes. Plastic inserts drop into the table to create functional topographies. TOPO uses rapid-prototyping technology in a way that enables each table to be different, and customers color in the areas where they want inserts placed in the finished product. These inserts sit in the holes and can be swapped out and rearranged. The little hills and valleys are made of plastic that is formed over real rocks. When not in use, these functional land forms invert to become sculptural mountains. According to designer Scott Franklin, “We spend a lot of time sitting at tables, so it’s nice to have some basil planted nearby.” [Contact:
NONdesigns, LLC, Los Angeles, CA.]
Labels: 06, landscape, multidimensional, plants, plastic, table
Accoya is a high performance solid wood that is modified by a proprietary process called acetylization. This technique increases the amount of acetyl molecules, which are naturally present in all species of wood, throughout the material (not just at the surface). Acetylization delivers exceptional performance attributes, including Class 1 durability, reduced swelling and shrinkage, mold and insect resistance, UV-degradation resistance, and reduced thermal conductivity. Because of these factors, Accoya is appropriate for use in more rigorous conditions, such as heavy-traffic road bridges. The product is also sourced from sustainable forests, is 100 percent recyclable, and is nontoxic. [Contact:
Titan Wood Limited, London, UK.]
Labels: 06, acetylization, ultraperforming, wood
3D Systems's stereolithography process creates three-dimensional objects using a laser to cure sequential layers of material to form shapes that have been modeled in digital environments. Accura Bluestone is an engineered nanocomposite designed specifically for this process.
Accura Bluestone is an exceptionally rigid, thermally resistant material, making it suitable for scaled automotive and aerospace wind-tunnel applications. Bluestone has also been used in the design verification of lighting components, as well as the production of jigs and fixtures for complex assembly operations. [Contact:
3D Systems Corporation, Rock Hill, SC.]
Labels: 06, interfacial, plastic, stereolithography
Advantic is a syntactic foam made by mixing or combining hollow glass microspheres with an epoxy resin. This high-strength composite solves many of the problems associated with other common tooling materials. Cornerstone Research Group (CRG) Industries’s proprietary mixing process minimizes the number of microspheres that break during mixing, a common problem in manufacturing syntactic materials. This process enables Advantic to maintain low density with high uniformity and minimum void content.
Because Advantic is lightweight, it reduces wear and tear on machining equipment. It also has low thermal conductivity and specific heat, so it requires little warm-up time and virtually eliminates plug sticking during thermoforming. Advantic is dimensionally stable and will keep its shape over a wide range of temperatures. The material can also be machined using standard carbide-tipped tools in sheet-fed, rotary, or in-line machines for a variety of applications.
Advantic is available in small or large lots of customized material with custom properties. CRG Industries can customize properties such as compressive strength, flexure strength, material density, operational temperature, chemical resistance, electrical properties, thermoconductivity, water absorption, and surface finish. [Contact:
CRG Industries, Dayton, OH.]
Labels: 06, foam, glass, material, ultraperforming
Backlight Images are three-dimensional solid-surface topographies created from digital images. Developed and manufactured by the R. D. Wing Company, the Backlight Image process transforms user-provided images into reliefs within the surface of 1/4-inch-thick, translucent DuPont Corian. The images are first converted to grayscale mode with 256 shades, and each shade effectively becomes a different height of contour.
Unlike other digitally fabricated products that utilize the relief surface as the viewing surface, Backlight Images are sculpted from the reverse side. Only when light is transmitted from behind does the image emerge through the material.
Backlight Images may be created from photographs, logos, or other graphic content. Once images are produced, they can be thermoformed to create sculptural objects and curved surfaces. Backlight Images may also be colored using theatrical studio film and can match Kodak PMS or Pantone designated colors. [Contact:
Backlight Images, Kirkland, WA.]
Labels: 06, digital, interfacial, process, solid surface
Unlike conventional petroleum-based plastics, polylactic acid (PLA) plastic is mass produced by chemical synthesis using raw materials derived from corn. The production of PLA contributes less CO2 to the atmosphere than that of conventional plastics and offers superior biodegradability after disposal. Because PLA plastics are often more expensive than conventional ones, researchers are developing ways to add value to PLA plastics.
