New Innovations in Energy Absorbing Material

energy absorbing materialAs an engineer, inventor, photographer, or musician, you have a lot of interest in energy absorbing material. This material can keep engines running smoothly, allow your inventions to work properly, keep your camera steady in the most vibrating of conditions, or keep your instruments protected when you’re moving and playing them. You need to know about the latest innovations in material that absorbs energy. One such new innovation is the material Sorbothane. This is a proprietary substance that is viscoelastic. Unless you’re a scientist, you might not know what that means. Here’s a quick breakdown of the details of this material made just for absorbing extra energy when it isn’t wanted.

What is a Viscoelastic Material?

A viscoelastic material is one with both the properties of a liquid and the properties of an elastic solid. The combination of these two types of properties is excellent when it comes to absorbing or spreading energy because these two types of materials deal with energy in different ways. When you combine their capabilities, you end up with an energy absorbing material that is much more efficient than a viscous substance or an elastic substance would be on its own.

Viscous materials help absorb energy by dissipating it over a larger area. They take in waves of energy and spread them out. You can see this happening when you put a vibrating toothbrush in a puddle of water. The water waves out, spreading the energy waves until they dissipate. You don’t hear the noise from the toothbrush as much because the energy is being absorbed in the water.

Elastic materials are also great for energy absorption. They actually hold energy and release it later on. Think about it with an elastic band. If you pull on it, you’re transferring energy to the band, and when you let it go, that energy releases to send the band flying across the room. If you can control how an elastic substance stores and releases energy, you can control where energy is going.

When we talk about an energy absorbing material, we’re describing a material that can control the release of energy in various ways. Energy is never lost – it’s only transferred into different forms. You probably remember this from basic science classes in middle school or high school. When you can control how energy is absorbed and released, you can control things like vibration and noise that can harm machines or mess up photographs.

How Can Sorbothane Help?

With Sorbothane, there are different ways to control energy absorption and release. For instance, you can let the viscoelastic substance absorb sound waves and release them later as small amounts of heat. You can also use this substance to change the frequency of sound waves by acting as a damper. It releases the waves at a different frequency than that at which it absorbs them, which means that the system can be controlled more efficiently. This energy absorbing material has many uses and is one of the best new vibration solutions on the market.

Interested in learning more about how Sorbothane works as an energy absorbing material? Contact us today to learn more or request a quote.