Project description
Freezing liquid patterns to create sophisticated materials
For centuries, knitting has transformed yarn into intricate fabrics through interlocking loops and stitches. This ancient craft inspired the ERC-funded STITCH project, which explores how similar patterns can form in fluids and solidify into structured materials. Researchers will study how to freeze patterns into solid structures such as those created by viscous liquids (like honey) that create fascinating stitch-like patterns when they fall and coil onto a surface. By combining modelling and experiments, STITCH will harness these natural instabilities to design resilient solid composite materials. Aspiring to use aerial printing methodologies, STITCH could help open new frontiers in material design, from tissue engineering to construction.
Objective
When knitting meets fluid dynamics. Knitting generates fabrics by meticulously guiding yarn into interlocking loops and stitches. Inspired by the legacy of this ancient craft, we propose to study the formation and deformation of complex entangled assemblies “stitched” by the liquid rope coiling instability. We will study the periodic stichlike patterns forming when a viscous thread falls and buckles onto a moving substrate, such as the coils created when honey is poured onto toast. Here, we focus on the case of solidifying liquids that “freeze” the patterns formed by these flows into structured solids. In turn, these structures can be leveraged to achieve tunable mechanical properties. This approach is an instability-augmented version of 3D printing where fluid dynamics co-fabricates the parts, e.g. by coiling and layering fused thermoplastics filaments. Despite their singular potential for materials’ design and fabrication, our understanding of these complex flows remains sparse, leaving outstanding scientific questions unanswered. STITCH will fill this gap of knowledge and elucidate the intricate relation between flow, form, and function.
We will integrate rigorous experimentation and modelling techniques to rationalize how our liquid patterns fuse into resilient solid composite materials. This deeper understanding will allow us to tame instabilities in solidifying melts, serving as the foundation for engineering precisely crafted architected solids across length scales, potentially impacting diverse sectors, from tissue engineering to construction. We will leverage our findings to push innovative frontiers in manufacturing with the ambitious and high-risk goal of developing aerial printing methodologies, where one or more drones work together to build from the sky. Our fundamental work is dedicated to materializing this nascent paradigm, bringing it from the realm of science fiction into concrete reality.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- engineering and technology electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering electronic engineering robotics autonomous robots drones
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2024-COG
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
3000 LEUVEN
Belgium
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.