New magnesium alloy materials can improve damping and shock absorption performance, meeting the needs of aerospace and other fields

Editor: Yang Daxin Technology

Recently, in response to the performance requirements for material shock absorption and energy absorption in the fields of aerospace and precision instruments, the Institute of Metals, Chinese Academy of Sciences (hereinafter referred to as the Institute of Metals) has collaborated with the University of California, Berkeley and the Chinese Academy of Engineering Physics to draw on the concept of three-dimensional interpenetrating microstructures of natural biomaterials. Magnesium is melted and infiltrated into an additive manufactured nickel titanium alloy skeleton to construct a lightweight, high-strength, high damping, and high energy absorbing magnesium nickel titanium biomimetic composite material. The relevant research results were recently published in the journal Science Advances.

Researcher Liu Zengqian from the Institute of Metals stated that the research team's understanding of the "structure performance relationship" in nature provides unique ideas for designing new materials with excellent comprehensive performance.

It is reported that compared with artificial materials, the macroscopic mechanical properties of natural biomaterials are usually significantly better than the simple sum of their basic structural units, due to their complex and multi-scale self-assembly structure.

In addition to high specific strength, specific stiffness, and excellent thermal and electromagnetic shielding properties, magnesium's damping performance is significantly better than most engineering metal materials, and even comparable to some commonly used polymer materials. However, its strength and heat resistance are significantly higher than polymer materials, thus highlighting its advantages in shock absorption, energy absorption, noise reduction, and other aspects.

The strength, stiffness, plasticity, and fracture toughness of magnesium and its alloys are still lower than those of steel and aluminum alloys, and their ability to resist high-temperature creep is poor, which restricts their widespread application. Liu Zengqian said that the research team has developed a new type of biomimetic composite material using a micro three-dimensional interpenetrating biomimetic structure, which not only achieves the complementary and combined performance advantages of nickel titanium reinforcement and magnesium matrix, but also endows the material with shape memory and self-healing functions.

The new biomimetic composite material improves strength and damping performance through multiple mechanisms, breaking through the interdependent relationship between the two, and achieving a good combination of strength, damping, and energy absorption efficiency of magnesium alloys. Its comprehensive performance is superior to currently known engineering materials, and it is expected to become a new type of damping and shock absorption material needed in precision instruments, aerospace and other fields.