174
9 Reinforcement in the Twenty-First Century
In particular, the uniquely big crevice between the majority of ordinary people and
the richest is a characteristic phenomenon under the globalized economic structure
[30–32].
Under these situations, we have to think of delocalization–localization balance
at each geopolitical level (see Fig. 9.2), when enriching the transportation system.
At the same time, the advancing development of information technology is always
to be noted. Specially, recent progress of artificial intelligence (AI) technology is
giving a large-scale influence on our social activities, and vigorously and uniquely
accelerating the globalization trend, apparently beyond our expectations. Application
of AI to the transportation system is to be briefly mentioned later.
9.2 Soft Materials in the Twenty-First Century
The computer words, soft and hard, are understood in general, and hence ‘a soft
material’ may need to be explained nowadays. Soft means software in IT, and a
hardware is all the devices used in computer-related instrumentations. The device
is made of various materials, and rubber is one of the soft materials. ‘Software’ is
more essential for IT, and it expresses the algorism by a programming language.
Algorism shows a procedure of calculation, which is practically assumed to be a
technique for problem solving. On the other hand, materials are used in manufacturing
devices, and hard materials such as metals and ceramics have been mainly used for
long. Modern society, however, has necessitated a vast variety of materials, and the
usage of soft materials is increasing more and more. Is it a coincidence that ‘soft’
is more highlighted both in IT and in materials science? It is well known that the
Industrial Revolution was initiated by a series of innovation for the textile industry
of the spinning machines producing cotton fibers of homogeneous quality in a large
amount. Mass production of the cotton cloths, a kind of soft device, opened the key
to the revolution. In contrast to soft materials, existing hard materials are often called
strong solids.
Pneumatic rubber tires for automobiles are a representative soft device, and rubbers used for manufacturing tires are a typical soft material. Queen Victoria (1819–
1901) might have missed the comfort of a horse carriage equipped with pneumatic
rubber tires. The industrialization of the rubber tires around the beginning of the
twentieth century just coincided with the mass commercialization of automobiles in
the USA, and the horse carriages equipped with them were not in time, which was
sad to Queen Victoria. Since then, the rubber tires have been supporting the moving
cars on the road so far. In other words, the reinforced tread rubbers are always at the
foot of automobiles, which uniquely enable a comfortable and safe dynamic contact
of the automobiles with road surface. No other materials have ever managed to bear
the same burden. Since the reinforced rubber products have developed in accordance
with the marketing of bicycles, automobiles, and aircraft, they have been keeping the
top position among soft materials. The recent ‘soft’ trend has given birth to the words,
‘soft matters,’ which are more general terms than soft materials, since the material
9 Reinforcement in the Twenty-First Century
In particular, the uniquely big crevice between the majority of ordinary people and
the richest is a characteristic phenomenon under the globalized economic structure
[30–32].
Under these situations, we have to think of delocalization–localization balance
at each geopolitical level (see Fig. 9.2), when enriching the transportation system.
At the same time, the advancing development of information technology is always
to be noted. Specially, recent progress of artificial intelligence (AI) technology is
giving a large-scale influence on our social activities, and vigorously and uniquely
accelerating the globalization trend, apparently beyond our expectations. Application
of AI to the transportation system is to be briefly mentioned later.
9.2 Soft Materials in the Twenty-First Century
The computer words, soft and hard, are understood in general, and hence ‘a soft
material’ may need to be explained nowadays. Soft means software in IT, and a
hardware is all the devices used in computer-related instrumentations. The device
is made of various materials, and rubber is one of the soft materials. ‘Software’ is
more essential for IT, and it expresses the algorism by a programming language.
Algorism shows a procedure of calculation, which is practically assumed to be a
technique for problem solving. On the other hand, materials are used in manufacturing
devices, and hard materials such as metals and ceramics have been mainly used for
long. Modern society, however, has necessitated a vast variety of materials, and the
usage of soft materials is increasing more and more. Is it a coincidence that ‘soft’
is more highlighted both in IT and in materials science? It is well known that the
Industrial Revolution was initiated by a series of innovation for the textile industry
of the spinning machines producing cotton fibers of homogeneous quality in a large
amount. Mass production of the cotton cloths, a kind of soft device, opened the key
to the revolution. In contrast to soft materials, existing hard materials are often called
strong solids.
Pneumatic rubber tires for automobiles are a representative soft device, and rubbers used for manufacturing tires are a typical soft material. Queen Victoria (1819–
1901) might have missed the comfort of a horse carriage equipped with pneumatic
rubber tires. The industrialization of the rubber tires around the beginning of the
twentieth century just coincided with the mass commercialization of automobiles in
the USA, and the horse carriages equipped with them were not in time, which was
sad to Queen Victoria. Since then, the rubber tires have been supporting the moving
cars on the road so far. In other words, the reinforced tread rubbers are always at the
foot of automobiles, which uniquely enable a comfortable and safe dynamic contact
of the automobiles with road surface. No other materials have ever managed to bear
the same burden. Since the reinforced rubber products have developed in accordance
with the marketing of bicycles, automobiles, and aircraft, they have been keeping the
top position among soft materials. The recent ‘soft’ trend has given birth to the words,
‘soft matters,’ which are more general terms than soft materials, since the material