HyperDamping’s Innovative Technology Makes Conventional Materials More Powerful
HyperDamping, a Columbus startup, provides a technology that is revolutionizing the performance of materials used to build automobiles, machinery, home appliances, packaging products, and more.
Powered by patented technologies developed at The Ohio State University (OSU), HyperDamping uses structural dynamics to increase the dissipation properties of low damping materials without sacrificing the mechanical strength and material durability.
That means with HyperDamping’s technology, manufacturers can control the damping behavior of materials they are already using. The result is tunable, broadband damping of shock, vibration, and sound for a wide variety of industries.
Integrating Structural Engineering Principles with Materials Science to Overcome Tradeoffs in Materials Performance
With manufacturing materials, there are often tradeoffs among strength, long-term resilience, and damping properties.
“Typically, you either get strength or damping out of bulk or composite materials,” said Ryan L. Harne, Ph.D. and founder and CTO of HyperDamping, “Our technology uses conventional materials that are widely employed in diverse manufacturing processes and yields material behaviors that appear like those of highly damped polymers.”
Things Moved Fast for This OSU Spinout
“At OSU, our lab carried out a few experiments—shock damping with cylinders having our HyperDamping material or conventional rubber material embedded within.” “We used our cell phones to record video of the unusual drop behavior: the cylinder with conventional rubber rebounded upon impact, whereas the cylinder with HyperDamping material landed flat. When we shared these videos with industry partners, and there was nearly instantaneous recognition of the potential.”
When HyperDamping’s material is under load—say in a mount that holds a vibrating machine or even under a floor supporting furniture and occupants—the reduction of sound, shock, and vibration is remarkable.
Watch the Demo.
HyperDamping licensed the intellectual property from OSU. By the time the company was incorporated, three clients were waiting to sign contracts. Patents were fully issued in October 2019, and still further patent applications are under evaluation.
Demand for industry projects developing HyperDamping materials has quickly grown due to the broad applicability of the HyperDamping material design to manufacturing processes, including injection molding, extrusion, roll-to-roll, and diverse casting processes.
Because HyperDamping’s innovation is based on the intelligent use of both structure and material, the technology delivers greater versatility to create solutions that optimize the damping performance using the least amount of material.
With moderate changes or additions to production designs, HyperDamping’s customers can get more out of their products. “They can use their existing materials and manufacturing methods, while our HyperDamping material designs deliver substantially better properties for long-term damping performance,” Dr. Harne said.
A Personal Commitment
Dr. Harne founded HyperDamping bringing along a 12-year background and enthusiasm for developing soft material solutions for vibration and shock control.
In 2018, as HyperDamping was in formation, Dr. Harne suffered a traumatic brain injury from a fall that led to unconsciousness and permanent nerve damage.
“Upon waking in the hospital, one of my first thoughts was that if I had landed on a floor solution damped with HyperDamping materials, this could have been prevented,” Dr. Harne said.
“I was already enthusiastic about HyperDamping’s potential to enhance the performance of many commercial products and industrial applications. But this sudden and terrible experience gave me a genuine passion for creating material solutions for shock and vibration problems that protect and serve people.”
Next Steps
HyperDamping operates a streamlined design and prototyping process with around ten contracted commercial partners, representing around ten separate industries or markets. Dr. Harne went from managing the business in a room in his house, to renting an office and lab space, to hiring a full-time design engineer.
“We are moving to scale,” he said. “Over the last six months, we have enhanced our focus on standardization and manufacturability as our clients show excitement about transitioning our successful proof-of-concept projects to commercialized products in the near future.”
By eliminating tradeoffs in high-performance materials, HyperDamping, is out to create a quieter and more comfortable world.
