A smart steel to increase the life of buildings

For a long time, several attempts have been made to introduce new materials in the construction industry which, in case of excessively high loads, e.g. during an earthquake, could protect the structures from damage or even complete destruction. So far, these experiments have always failed due to the excessive cost of available alloys.

The team around the materials scientist Ing. Thomas Niendorf of the University of Kassel in Germany has developed cost-effective iron-based alloys having "memory" properties of their own form - a research project funded by the German Research Foundation. By modifying the production passages and alloy additives, it was possible to produce larger monocrystalline components with shape memory. According to Niendorf, this smart steel will allow to protect bridges and buildings in all those regions vulnerable to damage and destruction caused eg. from earthquakes or high loads of traffic.

More info in the German press release >>

Image: University of Kassel