The design provides a material that has the highest possible stiffness for the lowest possible weight. (Credit: University of Aberdeen)

Scientists are working on the development of a new material that could one day be used in the construction of prosthetic limbs. The new metamaterial — a lightweight, solid foam known as Isomax™ — is the world’s first to achieve the performance first proved by theory more than 40 years ago.

Metamaterials are engineered to have properties not found in nature, and they are put together using multiple elements fashioned from materials such as metals or plastics. The researchers have made it possible to produce a lightweight material with the highest stiffness possible by making a cellular system. The design provides a material that has the highest possible stiffness for the lowest possible weight.

The researchers say that one of the most satisfying things about this breakthrough is that the theorem telling them the stiffness of the optimal design was proved in the 60s, but up until now, no one has produced a design that achieved this.

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