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Material with same rod- and plate-like structures as human trabeculae
Engineers designed a material with the same amount of rod- and plate-like structures as human trabeculae – a spongy structure made up of a network of interconnected vertical plate-like struts and horizontal rod-like struts that act as columns and beams, giving bones their durability -- and arranged them in a periodic pattern, presenting a new way to strengthen lightweight 3D-printed structures.
[Research supported by National Science Foundation grants CMMI 1068260 and CMMI 1254864.]
Learn more about this research in the Purdue University news story 'Buildings' in human bone may hold key to stronger 3D-printed lightweight structures. (Date image taken: Nov. 25, 2019; date originally posted to NSF Multimedia Gallery: March 5, 2020)
Credit: Purdue University photo/Pablo Zavattieri
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