In the US, a team at Purdue University has used 3D printed TPU to show that a patterned sheet of domes can form an energy-storing skin. The material is strong enough to perform mechanical tasks and could even store and process data like a mechanical computer, according to the West Lafayette, Indiana based university. When the dimpled circles are pressed, they change from being convex and standing proud from the surface to being concave hollows. Structures like this with two stable states demonstrate the concept of bi-stability.
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