I'm working on an issue in my story. They find a metal that absorbs energy.
The problem is how to work it, melt it (absorbs heat) cut it, weld it, etc.
Any thoughts?
I'm working on an issue in my story. They find a metal that absorbs energy.
The problem is how to work it, melt it (absorbs heat) cut it, weld it, etc.
Any thoughts?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piezoelectricity
and the closely related:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyroelectricity
But more generally, you're likely looking for something more like:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrocaloric_effect
Sounds like vibranium from the Marvel comics universe. You might want to see what's out there in the Marvel cannon on how they work with vibranium.
Is this meant to be an actual metal/alloy or is it meant to be a fantasy/fictional material?
ETA: If it's meant to be real, then you need to decide which form or forms of energy it stores.
https://er.jsc.nasa.gov/seh/pg80s95.html
Memory metals can be considered to store mechanical energy among others as a for instance.
It could have a crystal structure that causes the energy absorbing effect. Cooling it to a reasonably low temperature could cause it to become amorphous or change its structure, causing it to lose the effect. In that state, cutting, bending, drilling and such could work if done carefully. Welding apparently not, but it could have a "self-welding" quality if heated back to its crystalline state to get around that problem.
Cooling it to a reasonably low temperature
That was my thought too! Supercooling it to make it workable, but that has a drawback too, as in you couldn't then claim to make a starship out of it as it's a bit frosty up among the stars.
Since we are talking sci-fi handwavium as the element, why not use something more esoteric. A specific frequency of sound, something way, way up in the ultrasonic range or way, way down at the other extreme subsonics, in conjunction with, say, an acid-based solvent with a different, ultra-rare handwavium element.
You know the type of thing; only found in the excrement of cave-borne, fresh-water blind albino shrimp from the caves near the great meteor strike called the Tunguska Event at the Podkamennaya Tunguska River in Yeniseysk Governorate, Russia.
To start with, a bit more information on what you mean by 'work it, melt it (absorbs heat) cut it, weld it, etc.' would be useful.
What are the electro-chemical-physical characteristics of the metal that you envision. Can the shape be changed by a hammer and anvil, sawn with a saw, drilled, turned on a lathe, etc.
Is it a lump of pure metal or an ore, which needs to be processed to create a sheet of metal or is it to be formed into a particular shape?
What is the metal to be used for, something such as a sword or shield?
How much suspension of disbelief are you expecting of your readers?
If you need plausibility, then electrolytic deposition might work or some other chemical process.
For shape memory alloys, they are typically formed via casting from vacuum arc or induction melting. This assumes tendres is after a material that stores mechanical energy. As for working it, the term is called "training," in which it is heated to just below it's transformation temperature then worked.
That assumption is a big one. The two primary forms are potential and kinetic. Under those we have electrical, mechanical, mechanical wave, gravitational, Ionization, nuclear, chromodynamic, thermal, etc. The subsets are one or both kinetic or potential energy.
Which energy, or energies are to be stored by this material? There is a precedence for storage of fictional energies as well. Psychic, magical, so forth.
Until the specific energies are defined along with the desired level of realism, any further comment is a WAG at best.
electrolytic deposition might work or some other chemical process
This.
It's deemed to be artificial to at least some extent, right? As in it isn't found in nature, likely? So, you produce it as results of whatever complex process, "print" or "grow" the intended parts in shape directly, not produce ingots first. As to recycling, you reverse part of the process, make it react with something (like, dissolve in acid or break apart in electrolyte) and then reform using the original process.
Even so, it probably can still be drilled, grinded and cut with slow "cold" tools that depend on mechanical abrasion.
I've come up with an answer or a solution. It involves quantum physics and transferring the energy to another parallel universe. The way to manipulate the material is to use energy with the same quantum signature. Thank you for all the great ideas.
What does it do with the energy?
Because, the way you write this, it violates one of the oldest principles of physics.
...it violates one of the oldest principles of physics.
I believe Albert Einstein implied something very similar when he referred to quantum entanglement as "spooky action at a distance".
https://www.technologyreview.com/2012/03/08/20152/einsteins-spooky-action-at-a-distance-paradox-older-than-thought/
It sounded more like a variation of zero point energy to me, though not clearly stated.
http://www.calphysics.org/zpe.html
It sounded more like a variation of zero point energy to me, though not clearly stated.
Yep, after reading the article, that does seem to fit.
As long as the story line takes something at the edge of known science and extrapolates from there into the unknown, plausibility should be maintained. The writer does however need to be familiar enough with the science to know where the edge is.
you need some basic physics and enginneering
look up Young's Modulus, tensile strength, compression
material memory, elasticity, etc