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A new form of steel could be used to reduce low-frequency vibration in machinery operating in harsh environments, where conventional damping materials can degrade and quickly lead to failure.

The new steel is a type of metamaterial. Metamaterials are materials that get their properties not only from the substances from which they are made but also from how they are structured. A natural example might be honeycomb. Bees use beeswax to create a honeycomb in their hive. Honeycomb is thus a metamaterial that has strength and structure that are very different from unstructured beeswax.

Writing in the International Journal of Hydromechatronics, the team describes how they have taken a type of steel known as 316L and incorporated cellular structures within the steel that have "negative stiffness." A structure with negative stiffness can bend or deform, but the amount of force needed to cause the deformation falls the more the material bends.

Rubber and viscoelastic materials can absorb and dissipate vibrational energy through such deformation, but they can degrade in harsh environments. The metamaterial based on structured steel 316L can behave a little like rubber and so absorb and dissipate energy, but it can survive harsh conditions much longer.

316L stainless steel is a particularly corrosion-resistant alloy with good mechanical strength and high-temperature stability. This makes it a good choice for vibration damping in equipment commonly exposed to seawater, heat or oil contamination, including ships, aircraft and industrial machinery.

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