UniStates: RMT Manufacturing Technologies

REFLEXIVE MATERIALS TECHNOLOGIES (RMT™ TECHNOLOGIES) are for making extraordinary products from ordinary materials. RMT™ technologies enable the production of a vast range of industrial, military, and consumer products that are simultaneously lighter, stronger, stiffer, and tougher than conventional products. This is an unprecedented combination of properties. It is a combination that manufacturers and builders have sought for centuries. RMT™ technologies are particularly advantageous where lighter weight, superior strength, greater durability, and affordability are important.

THE ADVANTAGE OF RMT TECHNOLOGIES™ is simple and compelling: Superior materials, products, and structures for less. Because RMT Precision™ materials and RMT Informed™ products and structures are relatively simple to manufacture, RMT™ technologies can be used to make the components of airplanes, automobiles, bridges, buildings, roads, computers, appliances, tanks, tools, and numerous other valuable products and structures, including human replacement parts. RMT^SM manufacturing technologies enable the efficient production of a virtually limitless list of products made with metals, plastics, ceramics, and other sturdy materials, including biomaterials, and RMT™ technologies afford this typically without major capital investments in manufacturing plants and facilities. (See “Immediate Advantages” below.)

END-USER APPLICATIONS FOR RMT TECHNOLOGIES™ are particularly advantageous for weight-limited applications where a high strength, high stiffness, and affordability are important. Companies can optimize their competitiveness and profitability by exploiting the advantages of the design, engineering, and manufacturing precision of RMT™ technologies to achieve the optimal balance between product performance and cost. (See “Potential Applications” below.)

RMT PRECISION™ COMPOSITES are stronger, tougher, and lighter than conventional composites because RMT™ technologies re-engineer current composite designs with innovative techniques that coordinate and exploit fully the structural strengths and performance advantages of both reinforcements and matrix materials. New RMT Precision™ hybrid composites use dual systems to carry heavier loads with less material. Unlike ordinary composites, these new hybrid composites have load-bearing systems that operate in tandem and can be activated sequentially. (See “RMT Precision™ Composites” below.)

A COMPLETE SUITE OF TECHNOLOGIES for the design-through-manufacture of RMT Precision™ materials and RMT™ Informed products and structures is offered by UniStates. This suite includes the design, engineering, manufacturing, and software systems for organizing most sturdy materials into products and structures of uniform quality and performance at competitive costs. (See “Computer Driven Production” below.)

UNISTATES’ INTRIALS^SM PROGRAM is a joint undertaking with your company to re-engineer selected commercial parts and components with RMT™ technologies. The intent is to improve the in-service performance and marketability of these products. The first step is to work together to identify and prioritize a list of your company’s current commercial products that we would expect to produce the greatest gains in product performance and profitability through re-engineering with RMT™ technologies. (See “Industrial Trials (InTrials^SM) Program” below.)

RMT TECHNOLOGIES™ ARE PATENTED and patents are pending in strategic countries worldwide. These patents cover the design, engineering, and manufacturing systems of RMT™ technologies and are among the broadest ever issued, covering “all substances.” Issuance in 2004 of the latest advanced manufacturing patent for RMT™ technologies sealed UniStates’ omnibus grip on RMT™ technologies. This patent completed a rare patent trifecta covering the design, engineering, and manufacturing systems for a suite of technologies that the Dean of a respected engineering school in Boston called: “The Holy Grail of materials science.” (See “Patent Trifecta” below.)

UNISTATES’ BUSINESS is to enable companies and others to produce a limitless number of superior industrial, military, and consumer products for less, using our proprietary technologies. (See “Industrial Trials (InTrials^SM) Program” below).

UniStates’ RMT^SM manufacturing technologies are a major breakthrough because they enhance product performance by installing any number of pre-programmed pores, or voids, in products at the same time these products are being made. The voids are created in situ, during the manufacturing process, and each void is placed in a predetermined location in a product to assure superior product performance. RMT^SM manufacturing technologies are not foaming or additive manufacturing systems. For example, one newly-patented method for installing voids in products involves the use of beaded preforms (see “Right Angle for Manufacturing” below). With RMT™ technologies, materials are made lighter, stronger, tougher, safer, and more affordable than conventional materials through a systems approach to materials development that combines structural solutions with materials and process solutions (see Figure 1).

The voids are inside RMT Precision™ materials and RMT Informed™ products and structures, so everything from cars and planes to roads and buildings look the same, but are lighter and perform better when engineered and manufactured with RMT™ technologies. Upward to 40% less material is required to make RMT Precision™ materials and RMT Informed™ products and structures that outperform today’s versions. Each void can have a predetermined size and shape, and can be filled (with a material of choice) or unfilled (empty). The voids also can be closed or open, or a mix and can contain sensors, actuators, and identifiers. Voids can be installed in metals, plastics, ceramics, and other sturdy materials, including biomaterials.

RMT™ technologies generate substantial gains in product performance by using voids to transform the way materials, products, and structures are permitted to address load and, consequently, to undergo stress. This is the way engineering with RMT™ technologies optimizes the performance of materials and products. (For more about this transformation, see “Stress Steering™ Framework” below.) RMT™ technologies are particularly advantageous for weight-limited applications where lighter weight, superior strength, greater durability, and affordability are important. RMT™ technologies operate independent of scale and materials, with the same effect, whether at the microscopic level or at the human-made structural level. RMT^SM manufacturing technologies usually require only modest modifications to conventional manufacturing plants and facilities and rely on long-established processes with predictable processing variables.

RMT™ technologies re-engineer current composite designs to coordinate and exploit fully the structural strengths and performance advantages of both reinforcements and matrix materials. This makes RMT Precision™ composites stronger, stiffer, tougher, and lighter. The engineering strategy of RMT™ technologies relies on complementary specialization of these two basic components. The matrix material is designed to specialize in bearing compression load primarily; while the reinforcement, e.g., RMT™ beaded filaments (see “Preforms for Manufacturing” below), specializes in bearing tensile load primarily.

To achieve this specialization, RMT™ technologies engineer composites to steer compression load onto the matrix material and to steer tensile load onto the reinforcement (see Stress Steering™ Framework” below). Indeed, RMT Precision™ composites are engineered to minimize tensile load on the matrix material and minimize compression load on the reinforcement. This Stress Steering™ functionality is a patented technique exclusive to RMT™ technologies (see Patents). This strategy adds the strength of one to the other, making the most efficient use of both material systems to create a stronger and better-performing composite.

RMT™ technologies further enhance the performance of RMT Precision™ composites by using continuous reinforcement in the form of RMT™ beaded filaments, for example. Generally speaking, composites of all types, including RMT Precision™ composites, which use continuous reinforcement, have superior mechanical properties. As a general rule, discontinuous reinforcement, such as short fibers, can have tensile strengths that approach only 50% of the tensile strengths of continuous fiber counterparts (i.e., fibers of the same material and design parameters, e.g., same diameter); and they can have moduli of elasticity that approach 90% of that of continuous fiber counterparts.

Figure 2. Example of an RMT™ beaded filament ligament between beads.

Some RMT Precision™ composites include both continuous and discontinuous reinforcement, capitalizing on the best of both. These hybrid composites combine a distinct matrix material system with a distinct reinforcement material system. For example, the matrix material of an RMT Precision™ composite can be reinforced with discontinuous fibers, particulates, and flakes (see Figure 3) while the RMT™ beaded filaments can be strengthened with laminates, wrappings, coatings, coils, and carbon nanotubes, among other construction strategies. Also, in an RMT Precision™ composite, various RMT™ beaded filaments can be composed of different materials. These various construction strategies provide a means to tailor the composite for optimal performance in a specific application. (For more on the superiority of RMT Precision™ composites verses conventional composites, see Briefing Paper on Making Stronger Composites with RMT™ Technologies).

Figure 3: (a) random fiber (short fiber) reinforced composites; (b) continuous fiber (long fiber) reinforced composites; (c) particulate reinforced composite; (d) flat flakes reinforced composite; and (e) filler reinforced composites. (Click image to see larger version.)

No other technology can achieve the precision of the RMT^SM manufacturing technologies at costs that allow lower prices for finished products. For example, besides reduced material costs, manufacturing costs are lower because RMT^SM manufacturing processes typically require little or no human involvement and are continuous, from input of the raw material to output of the finished product. The primary goals of the RMT^SM manufacturing technologies are to (a) minimize production costs and (b) conserve materials. Through simple modifications, the RMTSM manufacturing technologies typically can be incorporated into current manufacturing facilities at any scale, with modest capital investment, to produce commercial RMT Precision™ materials and RMT Informed™ products and structures of uniform quality and performance at competitive costs. The breakthrough in materials performance enabled by RMT™ technologies promises to drive extraordinary advances in product performance, particularly in aerospace, transportation, and other weight-sensitive industries.

RMT™ technologies are patented and patents are pending in the US, Europe, and other countries around the world. In 2004, the US Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) granted the Advanced Manufacturing patent, which is pending elsewhere. This patent completes a rare patent trifecta covering the design, engineering, and manufacturing systems of a suite of technologies that the Dean of a respected engineering school in Boston called: “The Holy Grail of materials science.” (For more about RMT^SM manufacturing technologies, see “Right Angle for Manufacturing” below.) Other patents are pending (see Figure 4). At the heart of RMT™ technologies are simple innovations that use materials more efficiently, thereby making ordinary materials into extraordinary materials measured by today’s standards (see Patents).

Figure 4: Status of Patents on RMTSM Manufacturing Technologies. (Click image to see larger version.)

RMT^SM manufacturing technologies are designed for fabrication of both producer goods and consumer goods. There are two basic types of RMTSM manufacturing processes. These are continuous and batch processes. Continuous manufacturing processes using RMT^SM manufacturing technologies are particularly well suited for larger volume outputs, while batch manufacturing processes using RMT^SM manufacturing technologies are for outputs of products in smaller lots. RMT^SM manufacturing technologies afford the production of RMT Precision™ materials and RMT Informed™ products and structures with diverse compositions of materials, voids, and devices. These include composites that are multilayered, laminated, hierarchical, functionally graded, multifunctional, “intelligent,” and organic/inorganic systems, for bioengineering, for example.

RMT^SM manufacturing technologies are readily incorporated into state-of-the-art product lifecycle management (PLM) systems. A new suite of computer software, RMT2322™ software, is being developed by UniStates to permit the precision design, engineering, and manufacture of a vast number of RMT Precision™ materials and RMT Informed™ products and structures with optimum ease and efficiency using PLM techniques. RMT2322™ software will simplify and speed the design-to-manufacture of RMT Precision™ materials and RMT Informed™ products and structures of uniform quality and performance. This will minimize development time and costs, and assure the manufacture of products at the lowest cost in the shortest possible time. This new enabling tool will permit engineers and others to use high-performance computing to exploit 1) the structural advantages of the innovative design and engineering techniques of RMT™ technologies and 2) the unparalleled precision of RMT^SM manufacturing technologies, which emphasize low-cost, automated manufacturing processes that are continuous from raw material to finished product.

UniStates’ InTrials^SM program is a joint undertaking with individual companies to re-engineer selected commercial parts and components with RMT™ technologies. Each product progresses through a six-step process in which it is re-engineered using RMT™ technologies for optimal commercial value. The intent is to improve the in-service performance and marketability of these products. UniStates takes into consideration a company’s current production process, plant, and facility for manufacturing the product and the company’s marketing strategy for selling it. The end-goal is an RMT Precision™ material or RMT Informed™ product or structure of superior quality and performance that is market ready in less than 12 months. For more information on UniStates' InTrials^SM program, please see the Briefing Paper on UniStates’ InTrials™ Program.

RMT™ technologies afford the design, engineering, and manufacture of optimal products by minimizing the amount of material(s) required to form a product, while optimizing the structural integrity of the product. Unlike current technologies, RMT™ technologies provide both the engineering precision and fabrication control to produce products made of the least amount of material(s) sufficient to assure reliable stress/strain management according to performance specifications. To strike the essential balance between mass and structural integrity, RMT™ technologies inculcate discrete, symmetrically aligned voids into products. Beyond minimizing material requirements, this has the salutary consequence of enhancing the structural performance of products.

Depending on the particular engineering strategy, the voids shape all or a portion of the mass of a product into a truss-like configuration, or lattice, which is the RMT™ framework (see “Ideal Framework for Manufacturing” below). Iterations of this symmetrical framework steer and spread stress along the truss-like struts of their lattices inside RMT Precision™ materials and RMT Informed™ products and structures. This Stress Steering™ functionality defuses the threat of tensile stress by minimizing the development of tension in favor of compression in the framework. These particularly dangerous stresses are contained, and sheer stress is minimized. RMT Precision™ materials and RMT Informed™ products and structures are made lighter and stronger because the RMT™ framework parcels and steers applied load to thwart the threat of pernicious stresses, as illustrated in Figure 5.

Ordinary Beam & RMT Beam
Figure 5. Tension concentrates in the bottom-center of a solid beam under load, while the load is disbursed evenly throughout a beam with the RMT™ framework.

The RMT™ framework is analogous to the configuration of a space frame – specifically, an octa-tetra space frame, shown in Figure 6. A space frame is simply a structure with the unnecessary mass removed. The unnecessary mass is that material in locations in the solid structure where internal stress would be low while the structure is under load.

Figure 3. (a) An installed space frame and (b) an octa-tetra space frame.

Figure 6. (a) An installed space frame and (b) an octa-tetra space frame.

Taking away the unnecessary mass has a dramatic effect. It disperses the load that otherwise would concentrate as tension in a structure, as shown in the ordinary beam in Figure 6b. The load is distributed throughout the entire space frame. This efficiency under load means that the much lighter space frame can carry the same load as the much heavier solid structure, e.g., the beam. The RMT™ framework improves on space frame design by beefing up the mass where the stress would be high. This added mass makes the struts short-and-stout, rather than long-and-skinny like those in a typical space frame. Consequently, the beefed up RMT™ framework can carry even more load than the highly efficient space frame.

Like the RMT™ framework, the underlying concept of a space frame is to use less material in structures more efficiently; and, this concept works, as proven by the thousands of space frames installed and operating around the world. A major difference, however, is the RMT™ framework is equivalent to a stacking of many space frames, with the exact number and density attuned to the particular product application. Adding more internal framework can have the advantage of making an RMT Precision™ material or RMT Informed™ product or structure both lighter and stronger in comparison to a solid alternative. Of course, there is a point of diminishing returns for adding framework, which is equivalent to adding more voids. The optimum configuration depends on the particular product application.

The key to stress/strain management of RMT™ technologies is the sphere-like geometry of the Truncated Rhombic Dodecahedron (TRD), shown in Figure 7. Figurative TRD cells shape a structure engineered with RMT™ technologies similar to the way soap bubbles shape a froth, or foam. However, unlike the irregular distribution of bubbles in a froth, conjoined figurative TRDs in structures engineered with RMT™ technologies are aligned symmetrically in a face-centered cubic (FCC) configuration that spontaneously creates a corresponding FCC array of voids in the structure (see “Ideal Framework for Manufacturing” below).

Figure 7. (a) Truncated Rhombic Dodecahedron (TRD) and (b) naturally occurring TRD, in a mesoporous silica material¹ , which might be the basis for self-assembling and self-healing RMT Precision™ materials.

This void array gives a structure engineered with RMT™ technologies a framework, or skeleton, of the octa-tetra design (see Figure 6a above). The stout struts of the framework are triangulated and bear load axially to optimize their capacity to carry load (see Figure 8) and defuse the threats of tensile and shear stresses. This unique framework generates an isotropic material response, when configured properly, producing the optimal mechanical response by RMT Precision™ materials and RMT Informed™ products and structures independent of the loading state. Each RMT Precision™ material or RMT Informed™ product or structure is optimized for a particular application by a particular iteration of the RMT™ framework.

The RMT™ framework is a balance of distributed porosity and distributed mass. In RMT Precision™ materials and RMT Informed™ products and structures, mass and porosity are blended to form a framework with face-centered cubic (FCC) symmetry, which is the optimum geometric configuration in three-dimensional space. In the basic RMT™ framework, FCC symmetry causes the contiguous distributed mass to be in tetrahedral alignment, reflecting the three-fold symmetry of a triangle (see Figure 6b). This tetrahedral orchestration of mass is the reason why RMT Precision™ materials and RMT Informed™ products and structures bear load axially (see Figure 8). The noncontiguous voids, or distributed porosity, on the other hand, are in cubic alignment, reflecting the four-fold symmetry of a square (see Figures 9, 10, 11, and 12).

This means that the voids in RMT Precision™ materials and RMT Informed™ products and structures are in orthogonal alignment, i.e., in horizontal rows and vertical columns, while the corresponding mass is triangulated. Despite these differences in alignment, both mass and voids in the RMT™ framework are arranged according to FCC symmetry in three-dimensional matrices of uniform periodicity in optimum balance. The distinct, yet complementary, alignments of mass and voids in the RMT™ framework are of fundamental importance for the manufacture of RMT Precision™ materials and RMT Informed™ products and structures.

Figure 7. Square alignment of close-packed Truncated Rhombic Dodecahedra (TRD).

Figure 9. Square alignment of close-packed TRDs.

Figure 10. Voids in a layer of the UniSemble™ lattice.

Figure 11. Alignment of voids in a layer of the UniSemble™ lattice.

Figure 12. Cubic alignment of voids in the UniSemble™ lattice.

As a consequence of this ideal symmetry and attendant periodicity, the RMT™ framework can be reduced to a series of discrete normal surfaces of a sufficient number that many of these surfaces are identical. These identical two-dimensional surfaces can be aggregated into discrete subsets of identical surfaces to form identical cross sections, or layers of material. These discrete layers recur periodically throughout the RMT™ framework with an invariant rhythm, cycle, or succession.

Thus, there is a set composed of the least number of subsets of discrete layers, which can be superimposed in a uniform periodic series to construct the RMT™ framework. Certain of these layers may be solid, while others contain rows of voids in orthogonal alignment, i.e., in a right-angle grid (see Figures 9, 10, 11, and 12). This right-angle alignment greatly facilitates the manufacture of optimal products and structures of uniform quality and performance at competitive costs.

The orthogonal (or right-angle) alignment of voids is a constant in the RMT™ framework. The immutability of this alignment is the foundation for the RMT^SM manufacturing techniques used to inculcate voids into RMT Precision™ materials and RMT Informed™ products and structures. For example, this alignment inspired the recognition that each row of voids is antonymous to a string of beads (see Figure 13a), or a beaded filament (see Figure 13b). From this recognition comes the concept that beaded filaments may serve as precursors to the voids in the manufacture of RMT Precision™ materials and RMT Informed™ products and structures.

Figure 9. A beaded necklace.

Figure 13. (a) a beaded necklace and (b) RMT™ beaded filament.

Correctly sized and shaped and deployed in proper orthogonal alignment (see Figures 9, 10, 11, and 12) in an unconsolidated matrix material, these beaded filaments serve as preforms to the voids that are formed in the process of consolidation of these discrete layers during manufacturing. Indeed, in the appropriate three-dimensional array, beaded filaments serve as preforms to the voids formed within an entire product during the manufacture of RMT Precision™ materials and RMT Informed™ products and structures (see Figure 14). These preforms may be sacrificial (i.e., preliminary) and/or permanent - because, in some instances, it may be desirable for the material of the preform to remain in the voids.

Figure 14: RMT™ beaded filaments can serve as precursors to the voids formed within an entire product.

RMT™ Preform designs are variations on the common design theme of beaded filaments (see Figure 15 for examples). In each design, the beads may be any size, and may be shaped, aligned, and compounded to generate the void size(s), shape(s), array(s), and composition(s) desired in the final product. To form preforms for RMT Precision™ materials and RMT Informed™ products and structures, RMT™ beaded filaments, mats, tows, laminates, and/or fabrics may be organized in an unconsolidated matrix material (see Figure 16) or shaped into a “green product” for consolidation, with or without a matrix material, i.e., by infusion or fusion, respectively, into a final product or structure.

RMT^SM manufacturing technologies can use beaded preforms to produce a boundless number of RMT Precision™ materials and composites and RMT Informed™ products and structures, because the simple innovation of adding beads to continuous fibers affords the production of products with an isotropic (three-dimensional) response to loading, versus the unidirectional (two-dimensional) response of conventional fibers. It affords the use of basic manufacturing processes to install RMT™ frameworks into materials, thereby significantly improving product performance and cost. This can be achieved at virtually any scale, because beaded filaments can be produced with beads that are as small as a few nanometers in diameter. Consequently, preforms, including RMT™ beaded filaments, are one form of precursors used in RMT^SM manufacturing technologies to inculcate voids into RMT Informed™ products and structures of virtually any size (see Figure 14).

Figure 15. RMT™ Beaded Preforms.

Figure 16. RMT™ Beaded Preforms combined in a structure.

Greater symmetry is the feature that allows heretofore-impossible product performance to be achieved through product engineering with RMT™ technologies. It is the greater symmetry of the geometry of the framework of the RMT™ framework that allows RMT Precision™ materials to have the otherwise unattainable characteristics of being stronger and stiffer – and tougher, too.

Until now, almost all materials with high-strength and high-stiffness failed because such materials lacked toughness, i.e., resiliency, expressed as high yield strength. The old axiom was that “stronger and stiffer” coincided with more brittle and, thus, high-strength/high-stiffness materials were more brittle and fractured more easily than like materials of lesser strength and stiffness. RMT™ technologies shattered this old axiom with the enhancement of symmetry, which incorporates the advantages of scale and balance in the RMT™ framework.

Almost all ordinary high-strength/high-stiffness materials fail because of the propagation of flaws, which can lead to cracks, for example. The shortcoming is that these materials are relatively bulky. By comparison, a tiny fiber of such a material is inherently stronger than the bulk form, because the small scale of the fiber limits the potential size and number of flaws it may contain. Simply because fibers have fewer defects than their bulk counterparts, fibers can possess relatively immense strength, and their stiffness can easily surpass that of the bulk material.

In addition, if equal volumes of fibrous and bulk material are compared, it is found that even if a flaw does produce failure in a fiber, it will not propagate to fail the entire assemblage of fibers, as would happen in the bulk material. All this suggests that geometry can be as important as bulk material properties to the performance of high-strength/high-stiffness products and structures in applications where toughness, i.e., high yield strength, also is critical.

RMT™ technologies exploit the extraordinary geometric advantage of scale with struts in RMT™ frameworks that are analogous to fibers, only stronger, due to their enhanced geometry. The small size and large number, and consequent superior strength and stiffness, of these struts thwart the propagation of flaws in RMT Precision™ materials and RMT Informed™ products and structures making them tougher and more durable than ordinary materials, products, and structures.

The struts are stronger than comparable fibers because, unlike fibers in conventional composite materials, the struts in RMT™ frameworks are interconnected to reinforce one another. The struts are triangulated with one another in a cohesive framework, which permits both the individual struts and the entire RMT Informed™ product to bear load axially (see Figure 6). This unique geometry optimizes the load-bearing capacity of the material locally and overall, whatever the nature of the load, by minimizing the threat of tensile and shear stresses.

For balance in RMT™ frameworks, struts interconnect symmetrically in sets of 12, at equal angles, and are identical to one another, e.g., have the same dimensions (see Figure 17). The uniquely balanced geometry of this arrangement dissipates the energy required to propagate a flaw and, thus, optimizes the toughness, damage tolerance, fatigue resistance, and environmental resistance of RMT Precision™ materials and RMT Informed™ products and structures.

Identical struts interconnect symmetrically, in sets of 12, at equal angles.

Figure 17. Identical struts interconnect symmetrically, in sets of 12, at equal angles.

Energy concentration is required to drive a flaw to become a crack and to cause the crack to become a threat. Sufficient energy for crack propagation depends on the level of stress concentration in the material around the flaw-cum-crack. A. A. Griffith developed the modern conception of what happens when a material cracks under stress.² Griffith determined that, because the energy released is directly proportionate to the square of the crack length, it is only when the crack is relatively short that its energy requirement for propagation exceeds the energy available to it. Beyond the critical Griffith crack length, the crack becomes dangerous. Based on Griffith’s conception and its further development, engineering with RMT™ technologies employs scale to minimize crack length and uses material balance to minimize the energy available to propagate flaws into dangerous cracks.

Because the porous geometry in the RMT™ framework not only optimizes material balance and scale but also makes RMT Precision™ materials lightweight, there is a tremendous potential advantage in the otherwise impossible combination of mechanical properties and performance of RMT Informed™ products and structures. Being lighter weight, with the singular combination of high strength, stiffness, and toughness, gives these products and structures the potential for boundless practical applications. Ironically, this potential is not a threat to ordinary materials, because ordinary materials can be converted to RMT Precision™ materials through engineering with RMT™ technologies. So, while the potential advantages of RMT Informed™ products and structures appear to be absolute, these are relatively benign, since RMT™ technologies preserve the value of current investments in materials and manufacturing plants and equipment by utilizing ordinary materials and processes to produce extraordinary products and structures.

Manufacturers can exploit the advantages of RMT™ technologies to achieve the optimal balance between performance and cost in their products. For example, utilization of RMT™ technologies by the transportation industry to re-engineer existing designs to create lighter, stronger, tougher, stiffer, and more affordable products can lead to:

Replacing today’s heavier parts with RMT Precision™ materials and RMT Informed™ products and structures could reduce the weight of automobiles, planes, ships, trains, buses, and virtually all other vehicles. This could reduce fuel consumption, extend transport range, and increase cargo and/or passenger capacity. In turn, lighter vehicles could reduce loads on transportation infrastructures, such as highways, bridges, railways, and runways. The infrastructure cost savings could be huge. Additional savings could be achieved by increasing the durability of transportation infrastructures with RMT Precision™ materials, to lower maintenance costs that require enormous government expenditures annually. For civil infrastructure, the inherent performance improvements afforded by RMT Informed™ products and structures could, for example, allow the replacement of rebar in steel re-enforced concrete with an RMT™ framework that would be lighter, stronger, stiffer, tougher, and impervious to the environmental hazards that erode the strength of steel and undermines the structural integrity of reinforced concrete.

The unmatched advantages of RMT Precision™ materials and RMT Informed™ products and structures are expected to have a significant impact far beyond the transportation industry. Other industries that could benefit from engineering with RMT™ technologies and the use of RMT Precision™ materials and RMT Informed™ products and structures include the following industries:

Producers in these and other industries could exploit RMT Precision™ materials to achieve the optimal balance between performance and cost in their existing products and structures. RMT Precision™ materials could be the means for them to increase product quality, cut costs, and enhance margins. For example, industrial machinery made with RMT Precision™ materials could be more durable and made with less material and, thus, would be lighter and less costly to ship.

Because RMT™ technologies mini¬mize the use of materials, while optimizing the performance of materials, products, and structures, and do this for less, numerous manufacturers and builders worldwide will be direct customers for RMT Precision™ materials and RMT Informed™ products and structures. Others will be indirect customers through the use of products containing RMT Informed parts and components. Manufacturers and builders of all sizes and types could find that RMT Precision™ materials are ideal for the production of all products and structures made with “all sturdy substances,” whether these products are manufactured

The versatility, affordability, and manufacturability of RMT Precision™ materials and RMT Informed™ products and structures are the result of the simplicity and predictability of the designs and manufacturing systems of RMT™ technologies. Because of these characteristics, these systems afford the manufacture of optimal RMT Precision™ materials and RMT Informed™ products and structures consistently to the same exacting standards, assuring designers and engineers that RMT Precision™ materials and RMT Informed™ products and structures will be of uniform quality and performance.

RMT™ technologies can be applied to virtually every sturdy material to build a product or structure for an application that requires any one or all of the following characteristics: high strength, high stiffness, superior toughness, lighter weight, greater endurance, and competitive costs. RMT™ technologies can be used to redesign existing products and develop new products, and can be used to manufacture these products with unparalleled precision and efficiency typically for less cost than their conventional counterparts. As a consequence of these advantages, RMT™ technologies are a lower-cost way to make better products, from automobile components to human replacement parts. RMT Precision™ materials and RMT Informed™ products and structures can be made with metals, plastics, ceramics, and other sturdy materials, including biomaterials. There appears to be boundless applications for these materials, products and structures. Applications are being developed for parts and components of autos, airplanes, buildings, bridges, ships, shields, computers, and appliances, to name only a few.

Roger M. Milgrim, Esq.
George L. Graff, Esq.
Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker LLP
75 East 55th Street
NYC, NY 10022-3205
Tel: 212-318-6000
Fax: 212-339-9150
Email: rogermilgrim@paulhastings.com

Stephanie G. Erskine
P.O. Box 541106
Waltham, MA 02454
Tel: 781-209-2480
Fax: 781-209-2482
Email: serskine@unistates.com

¹ Y. Skamoto, M. Kaneda, O. Terasaki, D.Y. Zhao, J.M. Kim, G. Stucky, H.J. Shin, and R. Ryoo, "Direct Imaging of the Pores and Cages of Three-dimensional Mesoporous Materials", Nature, 408, 449-453 (2001). RETURN TO TEXT.

² Anderson, T.L. (1995) Fracture Mechanics Fundamentals and Applications - 2nd Edition, CRC Press, (New York).