A new mathematical framework has been developed that could be used to turn road vibrations, airport runway noise and other “junk” energy into power.
Altering the shape of “grain-to-grain” contact areas between particles dramatically changes how energy propagates through the system.
Researchers have found that it is possible to change how energy moves by altering the shape of the surface area of each particle where it presses against the next.
“What this work means is that by tweaking force propagation from one grain to another, we can potentially channel energy in controllable ways, which includes slowing down how energy moves, varying the space across which it moves and potentially even holding some of it down,” University at Buffalo theoretical physicist Surajit Sen said.
Read more at The University at Buffalo