Sept 27, 2009: Macho Velcro

[xoxoxoBruce]

I'm sure you all know what Velcro is. And you probably have a general understanding of how it works, but even if you don't, you sure as hell know how to use it.
You may not know Velcro come in varying strengths, we use a lot of very strong Velcro in helicopter interiors.

But I've never seen macho Velcro before....

A square metre of the new fastener, called Metaklett, is capable of supporting 35 tonnes at temperatures up to 800 ºC, claim Josef Mair and colleagues at the Technical University of Munich, Germany. And just like everyday Velcro it can be opened up without specialised tools and used again.

Mair thinks his spring-steel fastener is tough enough to be used for building facades or car assembly.

Metaklett can support maximum weight when pulled on in the plane of the strips, and a square metre can hold a perpendicular load of 7 tonnes, says Mair.

Building facades? Will hold well with the weight pulling in the plane of the strips, but what about in an earthquake, when the force from the shaking building is perpendicular to that plane?

Car assembly? So in a crash, parts of the car become space-age ninja weapons, flying through the air?

link