MRS Bulletin Materials News Podcast

Laura Leay interviews MIT’s Carlos Portela about a computational design framework for deformable woven metamaterials. Graphs describe the periodic architecture and how struts interweave at nodes; user-defined helix geometry controls the woven beams. The framework produces files for finite-element analysis and 3D printing, enabling predictions of large-deformation behavior and fabrication of previously inaccessible architectures. The freely available approach connects textile-inspired design with tunable elastic response.

Hosted by Laura Leay

Sophia Chen interviews Matt Dickerson of the Air Force Research Laboratory about manufacturing nanofibrous ceramics with additive methods. The discussion explains how block copolymers direct preceramic polymers into fibers, followed by heating that removes the block polymer and converts the precursor to ceramic. Compared with electrospun mats, printing offers control over component geometry. Ceramic springs illustrate repeated deformation without degrading their mechanical properties, with possible applications in catalysts, batteries and high-temperature components.

Hosted by Sophia Chen