Обучение чтению литературы на английском языке по специальности «Композиционные материалы» (120

(composite industry and biomedical) and the lack of crossdisciplinary strategies.

The main trends in the structural composite field are related to the reduction of the cost which cannot only be related to the improvement in the manufacturing technology, but needs an integration between design, material, process, tooling, quality assurance, manufacturing. Moreover, the high-tech industry, such as telecommunication, where specific functional properties are the principal requirements, will take advantages by the composite approach in the next future. The control of the filler size, shape and surface chemical nature has fundamental role in the development of materials that can be utilized to develop devices, sensors and actuators based on the tailoring of functional properties such as optical, chemical and physical, magneto-elastic etc. Finally, a future technological challenge will be the development of a new class of smart composite materials whose elasto-dynamic response can be adapted in real time in order to significantly enhance the performance of structural and mechanical systems under a diverse range of operating conditions.

Over the long period of time, scientists believe that advances in the materials area would prompt new breakthroughs in the area of composites. In fact, the current emphasis is on “fourthgeneration” materials, i. e. those that are designed by controlling the behavior of atoms and electrons, and which provide carefully tailored functional gradients.

The expected reduction of manufacturing costs of the structural composites will expand application of such materials to large-scale markets such as civil and goods. In particular, it is demanding to expand basic and applied research in the fields materials systems for homes, more durable materials to replace aging pipelines and transmission systems, enhanced safety systems for lighter automobiles made from composites, as well as research into even more rapid manufacturing processes, improvements in material handling and storage, and better, more durable and ever more benign resins.

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Applications are expected in fields of sensors, actuators, and biomedical. The quality of human life would be greatly improved by the availability of artificial prostheses (bone, muscles, cartilage, and soft tissues) and organs able to restore, repair or replace structural and functional performances of the natural tissues.

3. Answer the questions to the text.

1.What is the principal advantage of composite materials?

2.What state of the art applications of composites do you know?

3.Why wasn’t the cost taken as the main factor recently? 4. In which fields are the applications of composite materials expected? 5. What is the difference between the American and Japanese approaches to the problem of expending composite applications?

4.Complete each sentence with an appropriate part.

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5. Read and Translate Text IIIB (part 1) and Text IIIB (part 2).

Some useful words and expressions: actuator n — силовой привод

astounding adj — изумительный, поразительный circuitry n — график, диаграмма

converge — собираться вместе, объединяться farfetched adj — надуманный

gossamer adj — очень тонкий

gossamer materials — очень тонкие, подобные паутине материалы

heal v — исцелять, заживлять, восстанавливать heal v — исцелять

hinge v — зависеть, вращаться, быть тесно связанным holistic adj — единый, целый

mature adj — зрелый, выдержанный, созревший mind-boggling adj — невероятный, потрясающий prompt v — побуждать, толкать

punctured adj — проколотый

sand-to pebble-sized — размером с песчинку, гальку versatile adj — многосторонний, гибкий, универсальный

Text IIIB

The Materials of the Future

Part 1

The Right Stuff for Super Spaceships

Tomorrow’s spacecraft will be built using materials with mindboggling properties. These new spacecraft will need to be faster,

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lighter, cheaper, more reliable, more durable, and more versatile, all at the same time. Three of the fastest-growing sciences of our day-biotech, nanotech, and information technology-are converging to give scientists a new class of materials with astounding properties. Imagine, for example, a substance with 100 times the strength of steel, yet only 1/6 the weight; materials that instantly heal themselves when punctured; surfaces that can ‘feel’ the forces pressing on them; wires and electronics as tiny as molecules; structural materials that also generate and store electricity; and liquids that can instantly switch to solid and back again at will. All of these materials exist today… and more are on the way. With such mind-boggling materials at hand, building the better spacecraft starts to look not so farfetched after all.

Weight Equals Money

The challenge of the next-generation spacecraft hinges on a few primary issues. First and foremost, of course, is cost. Lowering the cost of space flight primarily means reducing weight. Each pound trimmed is a pound that won’t need propulsion to escape from Earth’s gravity. Lighter spaceships can have smaller, more efficient engines and less fuel. This, in turn, saves more weight, thus creating a beneficial spiral of weight savings and cost reduction. The challenge is to trim weight while increasing safety, reliability, and functionality. Just leaving parts out won’t do. Scientists are exploring a range of new technologies that could help spacecraft slim down. For example, gossamer materials-which are ultra-thin films-might be used for antennas or photovoltaic panels in place of the bulkier components used today, or even for vast solar sails that provide propulsion while massing only 4 to 6 grams per square meter. Composite materials have already done much to help bring weight down in aerospace designs without compromising strength. But a new form of carbon called ‘a carbon nanotube’ holds the promise of a dramatic improvement over composites: the best composites have 3 or 4 times the strength of

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steel by weight-for nanotubes, it’s 600 times! This phenomenal strength comes from the molecular structure of nanotubes (typically they are about 1.2 to 1.4 nanometers across) which is only about 10 times the radius of the carbon atoms themselves. Nanotubes were only discovered in 1991, but already the intense interest in the scientific community has advanced our ability to create and use nanotubes tremendously. Only 2 to 3 years ago, the longest nanotubes that had been made were about 1000 nanometers long (1 micron). Today, scientists are able to grow tubes as long as 200 million nanometers (20 cm). Beyond merely being strong, nanotubes will likely be important for another part of the spacecraft weight-loss plan: materials that can serve more than just one function. Imagine that the body of a spacecraft could also store power, removing the need for heavy batteries or that surfaces could bend themselves. Or that circuitry could be embedded directly into the body of the spacecraft. When materials can be designed on the molecular scale such holistic structures become possible.

Text IIIB

The Materials of the Future

Part 2

Spacecraft Skins

Likewise, materials that make up critical systems in a spaceship could be embedded with nanometer-scale sensors that constantly monitor the materials’ condition. If some part is starting to fail — that is, it “feels bad” — these sensors could alert the central computer before tragedy strikes. Molecular wires could carry the signals from all of these in-woven sensors to the central computer, avoiding the impractical bulk of millions and millions of today’s wires. Again, nanotubes may be able to serve this role. Conveniently, nanotubes can act as either conductors or semiconductors, depending on how they’re made. Scientists have made molecular wires of other elongated molecules, some of which even naturally self-assemble into useful configurations. Your skin is also

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able to heal itself. Believe it or not, some advanced materials can do the same thing. Self-healing materials made of long-chain molecules called ionomers react to a penetrating object such as a bullet by closing behind it. Spaceships could use such skins because space is full of tiny projectiles — fast-moving bits of debris from comets and asteroids. Should one of these sandto pebble-sized objects puncture the ship's armor, a layer of selfhealing material would keep the cabin airtight. Meteoroids aren't the only hazard; space is filled with radiation, too. Spaceships in low-Earth orbit are substantially protected by our planet's magnetic field, which forms a safe bubble about 50,000 km wide centered on Earth. Beyond that distance, however, solar flares and cosmic rays pose a threat to space travelers. Scientists are still searching for a good solution. The trick is to provide adequate shielding without adding lots of extra weight to the spacecraft. Some lightweight radiation-shielding materials are currently being tested in an experiment called MISSE onboard the International Space Station. But these alone won’t be enough. The real bad guy is Galactic Cosmic Radiation (GCR) produced in distant supernova explosions. It consists, in part, of very heavy positive ions — such as iron nuclei — zipping along at great speed. The combination of high mass and high speed makes these little atomic “cannon balls” very destructive. When they pierce through the cells in people’s bodies, they can smash apart DNA, leading to illness and even cancer. “It turns out that the worst materials you can use for shielding against GCR are metals,” Bushnell notes. When a galactic comic ray hits a metallic atom, it can shatter the atom’s nucleus — a process akin to the fission that occurs in nuclear power plants. The secondary radiation produced by these collisions can be worse than the GCR that the metal was meant to shield. Ironically, light elements like hydrogen and helium are the best defense against these GCR brutes, because collisions with them produce little secondary radiation. Some people have suggested surrounding the living quarters of the ship with a tank of liquid hydrogen. According to Bushnell, a layer of liquid hydrogen 50 to

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100 cm thick would provide adequate shielding. But the tank and the cryogenic system is likely to be heavy and awkward. Here again, nanotubes might be useful. A lattice of carbon nanotubes can store hydrogen at high densities, and without the need for extreme cold. So if our spacecraft of the future already uses nanotubes as an ultra-lightweight structural material, could those tubes also be loaded up with hydrogen to serve as radiation shielding? Scientists are looking into the possibility. Going one step further, layers of this structural material could be laced with atoms of other elements that are good at filtering out other forms of radiation: boron and lithium to handle the neutrons, and aluminum to sop up electrons, for example.

6. Translate the following words paying attention to the suffixes:

consider, considerable, consideration, considerably, resist, resister, resistance, resistant, resistible, resistibility, shield, shielding, rely, reliable, reliably, reliability, reliableness, durable, durability, refine, refined, refiner, refinement, radiate, radiated, radiating, radiative, radiation, radiativity, function, functional, functionally, functionality.

7. Use the words in italics with a proper suffix that fits in the space of the text:

radiate, shield, consider, resist, rely, durable, function, refine.

Translate Text IIIB (part 3).

Text IIIB

The Materials of the Future

Part 3

Camping Out in the Cosmos

Earth’s surface is mostly safe from cosmic (1) … , but other planets are not so lucky. Mars, for example, doesn't have a strong

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global magnetic field to deflect radiation particles, and its atmospheric blanket is 140 times thinner than Earth’s. These two differences make the (2) … dose on the Martian surface about one-third as intense as in unprotected open space. Future Mars explorers will need radiation (3)… . “We can’t take most of the materials with us for a long-term shelter because of the weight

(4)… . So one thing we’re working on is how to make radiation-

(5) … materials from the elements that we find there,” says Sheila Thibeault, a scientist at LaRC who specializes in radiation shielding. One possible solution is “Mars bricks.” Thibeault explains: “Astronauts could produce radiation-(6) … bricks from materials available locally on Mars, and use them to build shelters.” They might, for example, combine the sand-like “regolith” that covers the Martian surface with a polymer made on-site from carbon dioxide and water, both abundant on the red planet. Zapping this mixture with microwaves creates plasticlooking bricks that double as good radiation shielding. “By using microwaves, we can make these bricks quickly using very little energy or equipment,” she explains. “And the polymer we would use adds to the radiation-shielding properties of the regolith. “Mars shelters would need the (7) … of self-sensing materials, the (8)… of self-healing materials, and the weight savings of multi-functional materials. In other words, a house on Mars and a good spacecraft need many of the same things. All of these are being considered by researchers, Thibeault says.

Mind-boggling advanced materials will come in handy on Earth, too. “NASA’s research is certainly focused on aerospace vehicles,” notes Anna McGowan, manager of NASA’s Morphing Project (an advanced materials research effort at the Langley Research Center). “However, the basic science could be used in many other areas. There could be millions of spin-offs.” But not yet. Most advanced materials lack the engineering (9) … needed for a polished, robust product. They’re not ready for primetime.

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8. Answer the questions to the text.

1. What can help a spacecraft to slim down? 2. What new materials are used in building the better spacecraft? 3. When were nanotubes discovered? 4. What are the longest nanotubes ever made? 5. What problems could Galactic Cosmic Radiation cause? How could they be solved? 6. Why will Future Mars explorers have to make radiation-shielding materials from the elements that they find open space?

9. Find the synonyms or synonymic expressions of the words.

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10.Give a summary of text IIIB.

11.Read and translate text III C with a dictionary.

Text IIIC

Biomaterials Inventor

A half million dollar prize awarded to Prof. Robert S. Langer of Massachussets Institute of Technology focused attention on this remarkable biomedical nanotubes and his achievements. His research emphasizes the role materials, particularly polymers and other biomaterials can play in improving people’s lives.

Results of the Langer’s work have already been incorporated into improved treatments for a range of debilitating and life threatening conditions. A treatment for brain cancer, for example, has resulted in more than five times as many patients staying alive for more than two years after treatment than with existing procedures. It is also well known that Langer has pioneered the creation of new tissues such as artificial skin for burn victims, or cartilage and other tissues for patients who have been injured or suffered organ failure.

The strongest feature of Robert Langer’s character is an unwillingness to accept that something cannot be done. He said: “Often conventional wisdom would dictate that your idea, or your invention, is not possible. It is important to realize that there is very little that is really impossible.”

12. Speak on the Topics using the materials of Texts IIIA, IIIB, IIIC.

1.The new applications of composites.

2.Composites in space.

3.Career in the engineering of composite materials.

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