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Titanium–polymer metamaterials can float because the water-permeable lattice is not the part that traps buoyancy: polyurethane foam fills sealed channels inside its hollow titanium struts. The surrounding openings stay open, so water flows through the structure while the foam-filled interior helps keep the hybrid’s skeletal density below that of the water.

How can an open titanium structure float?

The lattice is made from Ti-6Al-4V titanium alloy formed into hollow struts using laser-based powder bed fusion. Expandable polyurethane (PU) foam is injected into the channels inside those struts. The lattice openings around the struts remain open to water; they do not need to be sealed into a hollow shell.

That distinction matters. Water can pass through the outer lattice without flooding the foam-filled internal channels. Those protected volumes, rather than the open spaces between struts, provide the buoyancy-relevant sealed volume.

Why bulk density can give the wrong answer

Bulk-density calculations may count the lattice’s large open spaces as part of its volume, even though water can enter those spaces. As a result, bulk density alone can make an open structure appear more likely to float than it is.

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The study instead uses a skeletal-density framework that separates externally accessible voids from the material and sealed internal volumes relevant to buoyancy. In practical terms, flotation depends on the hybrid’s density relative to the surrounding liquid, not on counting water-accessible openings as trapped air. A specimen with skeletal density below the liquid’s density can float; one above that threshold sinks.

What the study tested

The researchers compared hollow-strut Ti-6Al-4V lattices without foam against corresponding foam-filled hybrids. In freshwater measured at 0.997 g/cm³, the unfilled lattices sank as water entered their exposed hollow channels, while hybrids below the water-density threshold floated.

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The study also reports a natural-seawater immersion test using water measured at 1.03 g/cm³. The hybrid buoy maintained stable flotation during two weeks of immersion. Freshwater specimens were immersed for more than two months. These are results from the reported specimens and test conditions, not a general guarantee of service life in the sea.

Why flotation persisted after damage

Some hybrid lattices continued to float after substantial compression damage, including deformation and fracture at nodes in the metal framework. The researchers attribute this to the closed-cell PU foam, which retained trapped air and resisted water ingress even when the titanium structure was damaged.

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This result shows that the tested foam-filled design could tolerate certain mechanical damage without immediately losing flotation. It does not establish how the material would perform under every type of impact, prolonged exposure, or real marine operating condition.

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What the results do—and do not—show

The reported experiments demonstrate a design principle: fill hollow metal struts with foam while leaving the lattice open to water, and evaluate buoyancy using the relevant skeletal density. The authors also describe potential ways to tailor the material inside the titanium framework for functions such as energy absorption, thermal management, and vibration control.

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Those possibilities are not the same as established product performance. RMIT says scaling the demonstration parts and testing long-term behavior under realistic marine and deep-sea conditions are next steps. The reported immersion tests therefore do not establish that the material is field-proven, commercially mature, or ready for a particular marine application.

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