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A D V A N C E D
M A T E R I A L S
&
P R O C E S S E S | J U L Y / A U G U S T
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3D-PRINTED SHELTERS HELP
DISASTER VICTIMS
A pop-up, waterproof, solar-
powered shelter sounds like science
fiction, but a new multidisciplinary res-
earch team from CSIRO and the Universi-
ty of Technology, Sydney, both in Austra-
lia, and the University of the Arts Berlin,
Germany, is working tomake it a reality.
The shelter’s architectural design
is formulated by using a combination
of 3D modeling, weaving, and knitting
techniques. The shelter, waterproofed
through coatings and additives laid into
the textile fibers, is able to withstand
wind, rain, and harsh elements in both
hot and cold climates. A flexible design
allows the shelters to be packed up
and shipped out as quickly as they are
erected. The Architextile project aims
to build an interactive, self-sustaining,
and waterproof shelter from textiles
that can be flown to a disaster zone, as-
sembled by unskilled people and, with-
in minutes, generate its own power. For
more information: Benedict Anderson,
+612.9514.8903,
,
BULLETPROOF WALLPAPER
COULD HELP PROTECT TROOPS
Soldiers often use abandoned ma-
sonry, brick, or cinderblock structures
for defensive purposes instead of build-
ing their own or digging foxholes. While
these materials offer a degree of pro-
tection, they are susceptible to blast
impact from missiles or other large
projectiles, says Nick Boone, a research
mechanical engineer with the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers’ Engineer Research
and Development Center (ERDC), Vicks-
burg, Miss.
Engineers at ERDC came up with
the idea of fortifying these structures
with rolls of lightweight ballistic wall-
paper with adhesive backing that can
quickly be applied to interior walls, says
Boone. The wallpaper consists of Kev-
lar fiber threads embedded in flexible
polymer film. Without the wallpaper, a
wall that is hit will “rubblize,” sending
shards of rock and mortar flying at the
Are you working with or have you
discovered a material or its properties
that exhibit OMG - Outrageous
Materials Goodness?
Send your submissions to
Julie Lucko at
Nick Boone, at the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers, shows a section of ballistic
wallpaper during DOD Lab Day at the
Pentagon.
OMG!
OUTRAGEOUSMATERIALSGOODNESS
Researchers working on the Architextile project, Ebba Waldhör, Benedict Anderson,
and David Pigram. Courtesy of Joanne Saad.
Pholcidae/cellar spider in West Germany.
Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons/So ein
Spinner.
occupants inside. When the blast oc-
curs with the wallpaper installed, it acts
as a “catcher’s net,” containing the rub-
ble and preventing debris from injuring
soldiers. Ballistic wallpaper is still in the
research and development stage, says
Boone.
SPIDERS WEAVE SILK
REINFORCED WITH CARBON
Spiders sprayed with water
containing carbon nanotubes and
graphene flakes have produced the
toughest fibers ever measured, say re-
searchers at the University of Trento, It-
aly. Fifteen Pholcidae spiders were col-
lected and kept in controlled conditions
in a lab. Researchers then retrieved
samples of dragline silk produced by
these spiders as a reference. Next, re-
searchers sprayed the spiders with wa-
ter containing nanotubes or flakes and
measured the mechanical properties of
the silk that the spiders produced. The
resulting material has properties such
as fracture strength, Young’s modulus,
and toughness modulus higher than
any material ever measured, say re-
searchers. .