Metal Velcro

RotJ writes "British scientists have developed technology that can grow structures up to 2 millimetres high and 0.2 millimetres in diameter on metal surfaces. Dubbed Surfi-Sculpt, it 'will act like ultra-strong Velcro to form much tougher joints between metals and lightweight composite materials'."

Comments

Isn't the point of velcro

[ProudClod]

That you can pull it apart?

If the bond on this stuff is so very very strong, then what advantages does it lend over, say, epoxy?

Re:Isn't the point of velcro

[Sexy Bern]

I imagine repairing/replacing a space shuttle tile becomes a whole lot more realistic.

Heatsinks

[Mifflesticks]

Up to 10x the surface area of the sheet of metal? Sounds like it could make for a great low-profile heatsink. Of course, development costs could be prohibitive, but still...

Re:Other applications?

[xmda]

Did you read the article:

The projections could be used to encourage bone to grow onto artificial hips. They could also be used in electronics to produce heat sinks of just about any shape.

Re:Fast to create as well

[Jennifer E. Elaan]

It's not a laser at all, but an electron beam. And as for the speed at which an electron beam can be scanned over a square surface, chances are you're staring at a demonstration of this as you read this.

This is the same technology that is used in CRT's, but scaled up a few orders of magnitude in power. And a computer just draws shapes with it, like an old vector graphics screen. Not just commercializable, it's easy to do.

Mushrooms vs. hooks

[tgibson]

Interesting quality about velcro. If you replace the hooks with mushrooms, the loops grab under the head of the mushrooms and the fastening becomes permanent (i.e. you can't separate the two pieces).

I'm sure this version velcro is used in many areas. I became aware of it via a friend working in pest control. The nets he was using on buildings to prevent access by pigeons were fastened using this version of velcro.