Control of desiccation crack pattern using memory effect of clay paste

摘要

Method to control desiccation crack patterns is invented by using memory effect of clay paste. Paste made of powder and water remembers the direction of external mechanical fields, such as flow and vibration. These memories in pastes are sustained as microscopically anisotropic network structures of powder particles. When the pastes are dried, memories in pastes are visualized as macroscopically anisotropic crack patterns. Thus, by imprint memories into pastes before drying, the morphology of desiccation crack patterns can be controlled to be anisotropic ones, such as lamellar, radial, ring, spiral, and so on.