TIME: Almanac 1993/TIME Almanac 1993.iso/time/112690/1126310.000

Text File | 1992-08-28 | 6.0 KB | 127 lines

                                                                                TECHNOLOGY, Page 94

Solid as Steel, Light as a Cushion


Science is giving industry a versatile array of new building
blocks

By THOMAS McCARROLL


    Even from a distance, the grayish two-story home with
panoramic windows and pointed chimney casts a distinctive
profile against the suburban sky. But only a closer inspection
reveals what is truly unique about this house. Instead of
sporting bricks or aluminum siding, the dwelling is covered
with superstrong, superdurable plastic panels. The shingles on
its vaulted roof are made not of wood but of another tough
plastic; so too, in fact, are the floors, doorframes, light
fixtures, plumbing pipes and even the windows.

    This experimental "plastic" house, built by General Electric
in Pittsfield, Mass., is perhaps the most striking use so far
of a new class of souped-up substances called advanced
materials. These novel building blocks are basically futuristic
versions of present-day metals, glasses, plastics and ceramics.
But unlike conventional counterparts, the materials are made
with extra ingredients that greatly enhance their performance
or give them new features. By blending in stiff carbon fibers,
for example, modern-day alchemists have developed plastics that
are up to 10 times as strong as conventional plastics. And by
mixing copper with zinc and aluminum, scientists have produced
a metal with a "memory": the stuff returns to its original
shape after being bent or twisted.

    The new materials are usually designed on computers, which
can analyze exactly how the molecules of different substances
will fit together. As a result, complex compounds can be made
to order for specific tasks. They can be engineered to be as
solid as cement yet as light as foam cushion, or sturdy like
steel but pliable like rubber. Because of their superior
properties, advanced materials are rapidly replacing ordinary
steel, aluminum and plastics in everything from cutlery to
cars. Scientists have high hopes of conserving natural
commodities such as iron, wood and rubber. Says Robert Newnham,
a professor of solid-state science at Pennsylvania State: "At
one time, we had to settle for whatever Mother Nature gave us.
Now if we're not satisfied we can go out and create our own
materials."

    Advanced materials are just now starting to show up in
commercial products. Examples: ceramic scissors that never rust
or get dull, plastic lumber that is water-resistant and does
not swell or warp like wood, and "metal" windows that keep
excessive light and heat out of a house in summer and trap them
inside during winter. In the U.S. the aerospace industry,
including the military, is the biggest consumer of engineered
materials, accounting for more than two-thirds of all use. The
substances, used in door panels and floors, account for about
14% of a typical airplane's weight, in contrast to 2% ten years
ago. Stealth bombers and fighter jets are wrapped in skins of
composite nonmetallic materials that help make the planes more
difficult to detect with radar.

    The fastest-growing market is the auto industry, which is
increasingly replacing metal with lightweight plastics in
bumpers, body panels and other parts. These polymers typically
weigh half as much as steel but are just as strong. The
plastics conserve gas by making a vehicle lighter, and
manufacturing them requires 10% to 20% less energy than
fabricating metal parts. Admittedly, there can be problems.
General Motors found that the polymer body panels of some of
its minivans started to peel like old wallpaper. Moisture had
seeped between the sheets of plastic and caused the panels to
come unglued.

    But such minor glitches have done nothing to dull the
enthusiasm for developing even more exotic materials. By
combining particles of chlorophyll with molecules of a soft
plastic, researchers at M.I.T. have made a rubbery gel that
shrinks and swells in response to an electric charge. The
substance could conceivably be used to make artificial muscles.
A superhard ceramic is being developed to make engines that do
not need oil or a radiator, and get 100 miles to a gallon of
gas. Scientists are also working on a "smart" ceramic that can
respond to stress. Simply put, the material is laced with tiny
electronic components that react to pressure or other
stimulation by emitting some signal -- rays of light, for
example. Designers envision using this ceramic to build a
bridge that would change color if it were overloaded and thus
became structurally unsound.

    Such potential has made the materials business one of the
most hotly contested high-tech fields. Hundreds of companies,
from IBM to Germany's Daimler-Benz to Japan's Sony, are
investing heavily to come up with the next breakthroughs.
Advanced-material sales, which will top $2 billion this year,
are expected to reach $20 billion by the year 2000 as research
efforts of the past decade start paying big dividends in the
form of new products.

    Until a few years ago, U.S. companies were the undisputed
leaders of the industry. But analysts warn that America may be
losing ground -- once again to the Japanese. Unlike firms in
the U.S., where the use of new materials is confined mainly to
aerospace and the military, Japanese manufacturers are
concentrating almost exclusively on industrial and consumer
applications. In addition, they have been avidly buying
materials technology from abroad. In the past four years, some
of Japan's leading producers, such as Kyocera and Tokuyama,
have acquired four American firms, including AVX, a New York
City manufacturer of specialized ceramics, and Materials
Research, an Orangeburg, N.Y., company that makes high-purity
metals.

    But in the race to build advanced materials, technological
prowess and financial clout may not count as much as
imagination. The winners will be those who can not only
fabricate exotic materials but also dream up myriad ways to use
them.