MIT News October 5, 2022
Researchers at MIT used computational thermodynamics, phase transformation physics, crystallographic calculations, and machine learning to solve the problem of creating a material that can actuate without accumulating damage, thus making it possible for it to function reliably as a shape-memory material through many cycles of use resulting in a new variation of zirconia. They introduced some atoms of different elements into its structure in a way that altered some of its properties. The elements dissolved into the lattice, and they sculpt it, and changed that transformation, made it more gentle at the atomic scale. The hysteresis changed by a factor of 10 that it now resembles that of metals. The new material has many applications such as application relief valves triggered by heat to relieve pressure, actuators that direct airflow inside a jet engine. The team plans to continue exploring the material, finding ways to produce it in bigger batches and more complex shapes, and testing its ability to withstand many cycles of transformation…read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLEÂ
Diagrams show the two different ways that the atomic structure of the shape-memory material, zirconia ceramic, can be configured…Credit: Image: Edward Pang