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Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →A 3D-printed titanium-alloy lattice can float even though water passes through its open framework. Researchers at RMIT achieved this by filling the lattice’s hollow struts with polyurethane foam: water flows through the outer gaps, while the foam-filled channels help keep the structure’s overall “skeletal density” below that of water. The result is a laboratory research demonstration, not a commercially available product or a material proven for long-term ocean use.
How can a titanium lattice float if water flows through it?
The design pairs a 3D-printed lattice made from Ti-6Al-4V titanium alloy with polyurethane foam inside its hollow, interconnected struts. The larger spaces between the struts remain open, so water can pass through the lattice rather than being trapped outside it.
RMIT calls the relevant measure “skeletal density.” It counts the titanium walls and sealed, foam-filled channels, but not the water-accessible gaps between struts as if those gaps displaced water. The design principle is that the structure floats when this skeletal density is lower than the surrounding liquid’s density. As lead researcher Dr Jordan Noronha put it, the lattice can float “even when water flows through all its external openings.” RMIT’s 3 September 2026 release describes the design and its tests.
What did the laboratory tests show?
RMIT reports that specimens stayed afloat in freshwater for more than two months. In damage tests, they remained buoyant after cracking, connection-point failures and fracture of an entire lattice layer. The specimens sank only after severe crushing and compaction, according to the university.
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For seawater exposure, RMIT reports that specimens immersed for two weeks in natural seawater from Port Phillip Bay lost 0.15% of their mass and had a strength decline of less than 1%. The university also reports that the material was 70% stronger than stainless steel or high-density polyethylene at the same overall density. Its release does not provide the full testing protocol or comparison details, so these figures should be read as RMIT-reported results rather than a complete independent comparison.
A prototype marine buoy remained stable in a turbulent seawater tank as the tank was rotated up to 45 degrees. That demonstrates a tank test, not performance in waves or currents over a prolonged ocean deployment.
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What is established—and what is not?
The findings support a buoyant, damage-tolerant lattice in laboratory tests, along with a short seawater-immersion result and a tank demonstration. They do not establish years of service at sea, long-term corrosion resistance, deep-sea performance, or readiness for marine infrastructure.
RMIT identifies scaling up the demonstration parts and testing long-term performance in realistic marine and deep-sea conditions as next steps. The university’s release does not identify a finished retail product or standardized component.
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Who made the material, and where was the study published?
RMIT’s Centre for Additive Manufacturing led the project with France’s Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers. The study, “Breaking the surface: buoyant metal–polymer open–cell hybrid lattice metamaterials,” was published in Advanced Materials (DOI: 10.1002/adma.74641). RMIT identifies Dr Jordan Noronha as lead researcher and Distinguished Professor Ma Qian as project leader.
Qian said that changing the material inside the titanium framework could allow related structures to be tailored for applications such as energy absorption, thermal management and vibration control. These are potential directions, not demonstrated commercial uses of the buoyant lattice.
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