Fire ants form rafts to survive flooding, but how do those bonds work? And what can we learn from them? A professor is researching those questions to expand our knowledge of materials science.
Fire ants form rafts to survive flooding, but how do those bonds work? And what can we learn from them? A Binghamton University, State University of New York professor is researching those questions to expand our knowledge of materials science .
"Living systems have always fascinated me, because they achieve things that our current engineered materials cannot -- not even close," he said."We manufacture bulk polymeric systems, metals and ceramics, but they're passive. The constituents don't store energy and then convert it to mechanical work the way every single living system does."
But Wagner and his collaborators discovered that no matter what speed they pulled the ant rafts, their mechanical response was nearly the same, and they never flowed. Wagner speculates that the ants reflexively tighten and prolong their holds when they feel force because they want to stay together. They either turn down or turn off their dynamic behavior.
Wagner believes that mimicking these catch bonds in engineered systems could lead to artificial materials that exhibit autonomous, localized self-strengthening in regions of higher mechanical stress. This could enhance the lifetimes of biomedical implants, adhesives, fiber composites, soft robotics components and many other systems.
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