solid foam tagged posts

The Isomax cell configuration. Credit: UCSB Engineering

Mechanical engineer and materials scientist Jonathan Berger, UCSB Prof. Robert McMeeking and materials scientist Haydn N. G. Wadley from the University of Virginia, prove that the 3D pyramid-and-cross cell geometry Berger conceived is the first of its kind to achieve the performance predicted by theoretical bounds. Its lightness, strength and versatility, according to Berger, lends itself well to a variety of applications, from buildings to vehicles to packaging and transport.

Called Isomax™, the beauty of this solid foam – in this case loosely defined as a combination of a stiff substance and air pockets – lay in the geometry within...