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US engineers have developed a super resistant wood that can easily replace steel and even titanium alloys. In addition to being 10 times more resistant, the product is also 6 times lighter.
Engineers of University of Maryland, in the United States, developed a method for transform a common wood into a wood up to 10 times more resistant, generating a natural product that can be stronger than steel and even many titanium alloys.
Super resistant wood developed by Engineers can stop a projectile
The wood is treated with a very basic two-stage technique, generating a super resistant wood, equivalent to titanium alloys, which is not usually found in nature. A crucial point of this developed wood is that, although it is much stronger than steel, still manages to be 6 times lighter.
It takes 10 times more energy to break down this product compared to an original natural product before treatment. In technical terms, it has 10 times more tenacity, resistance to mechanical stress. In addition, veneer wood can be bent and shaped at the beginning of the process.
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According to Professor Liangbing Hu, this new method of treating wood makes it 12 times stronger than ordinary wood and also 10 times harder, thus being able to compete with steel or even titanium alloy, as it is as strong and durable as these materials. The product can also be compared with carbon fiber, only much cheaper.
In tests of the new invention, projectiles similar to firearm bullets were fired at it. The projectile went through natural wood with ease, but stuck in the super-tough wood, that is, this new technology is completely bulletproof.
Possible uses for the new wood developed by the engineers
In addition to being a great substitute for steel and titanium alloys, the super resistant wood developed by the engineers could also ease the pressure for growing and extracting more durable and noble woods.
Hu says softwoods like balsa or pine, which grow more easily and are more environmentally friendly, could replace slower, denser woods like teak in furniture or buildings. This type of wood can also be used in cars, buildings, planes or any other application where steel is used.
Other experiments with enhanced wood
engineers from New Delhi University Institute of Technology, in India, have developed in the last year a new technology capable of replacing glass and plastic in the civil engineering sector and automotive.
The transparent wood can be used in the manufacture of car windshields, packaging and electrical equipment. According to the researchers, this innovative material reduces impacts on the environment due to its renewable and biodegradable properties, in addition to being more economical and much more resistant than glass and plastic, mitigating the cost of energy for its production.
For the lead author of the study and professor of chemical engineering, Prodyut Dhar, transparent wood as a sustainable material can effectively replace plastic and glass based pollutants harmful to the environment effectively. Products such as polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride, acrylic and polyethylene can be substituted.
The product appeared for the first time in 1992 by the German scientist, Siegfried Fink, and can be obtained by removing the lignin content, which is present in natural wood, replacing it with plastic materials. This substance is an organic biopolymer widely used in the production of non-toxic and biodegradable plant tissues.
