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Lise-Meitner-Lecture 2018 — Interview with Prof. Nicola Spaldin
Nicola Spaldin was interviewed by Melanie Rutowski of the German Physical Society before her Lise-Meitner-Lecture in Erlangen.
Bioinspired Spring Origami
Researchers from the Complex Materials group and the Purdue University have developed multifunctional origami structures, which they then fabricated into 3D printed objects. The design principle mimics the structure of an earwig’s wing.
New viscoelastic materials that simultaneously combine high stiffness and high loss
The stiffness modulus and loss tangent are usually mutually exclusive properties so it is a technological challenge to develop materials that simultaneously combine high stiffness and high loss. A team of researchers from UK, Japan and Switzerland led by Andrei Gusev (Polymer Physics) has achieved this unusual balance of properties by filling a solid polymer matrix with rigid inorganic spheres coated by a sub-micron layer of a viscoelastic material with a high level of internal friction.
New viscoelastic composite materials that simultaneously combine high stiffness and high loss
The stiffness modulus and loss tangent are usually mutually exclusive properties so it is a technological challenge to develop materials that simultaneously combine high stiffness and high loss. Here, inspired by our recent finite element numerical predictions, we achieve this unusual balance of properties by filling a solid polymer matrix with rigid inorganic spheres coated by a sub-micron layer of a viscoelastic material with a high level of internal friction.