Leverage of ‘microstructural’ shape factors within conventionally strong “macro-structural” forms such as the I-beam enables maximum structural efficiency.
Microstructure Within Macrostructure
Material Properties
Properties that C6XTY material can have. All posts with this category are presented in a slideshow on the materials-properties-slides post.
Strength-to-Weight Advantage
Strength-to-weight ratio is inherently high even before material choice. Like the strongest “traditional” materials (wood, steel, and reinforced concrete), the geometry has significant strength both in tension and compression, affording greater freedom and efficiency in design and use. Failure-resistance is a natural by-product of the constituent element shape factors and discontinuous geometry, such that tears in the material are limited in length and not self-propagating. Provides adequate redundancy against failure while still maintaining high efficiency in use of material.
Regular Network with Addressable Locations
The omni-extensible pattern of repeating polyhedral units combined with the ability for continuous connectivity create rich opportunities for wired or wireless addressable locations throughout the matrix.
Increased Surface Area
The open 3-D geometry creates a regular, stable matrices with increased internal “active” surface area, capable of being “loaded” with functional elements. These elements can include: chemical ‘beads,’ wired or wireless addressable locations, circuitry, lighting/heating elements, solar cells, seeds, phase-change materials, and barrier layers.
Local Deformation with Global Stiffness
Response to applied stress is one of local deformation while maintaining global stiffness due to integrity of compression/tension synergy within the material. Toughness and permeability are not compromised.
Multi-Axial Tensile “Web”
Internal interconnecting matrix can be bias-positioned to create an intrinsic and interpenetrating ‘torsion box’ microstructure providing exceptional robustness to torsion and shear forces.
Gradient from Stiff to Flexible
The geometry overrides conventional limitations on inherent stiffness or flexibility! A precisely defined flexibility and/or expansion “gradient” or “zone” can be created across a single plank or sheet in any plane or combination of planes. A wide range of non-homogenous characteristics can be custom-engineered within a single product even when manufactured of a homogenous material, making product performance local and site-specific.
Anisotropic Smart Sidewalk
Omni-directional control of material and size enables customized, integrated “hybrid” solutions using components of differing raw materials. Material/product design can be implemented in virtually any category and combination of materials (plastics, metals, textiles, wood products).
Improved Coefficient of Friction
The Flextegrity geometry’s multi-axial tensile network dramatically reduces the slippage and shear that can plague conventional slope stabilization techniques. A single, fully-integrated slab not only substitutes for traditional time-intensive, complicated multi-material methods, but overcomes many of their structural, installation, and durability deficiencies.
Scalable
The proprietary geometry is infinitely scalable in unit size (from nano- to mega-scale) and in frequency (number of polyhedral elements in any plane of the material matrix).