Multistable Architected Materials for Trapping Elastic Strain Energy.

Shan, Sicong; Kang, Sung H; Raney, Jordan R; Wang, Pai; Fang, Lichen; Candido, Francisco; Lewis, Jennifer A; Bertoldi, Katia · Adv Mater · 2015

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

3D printing and numerical analysis are combined to design a new class of architected materials that contain bistable beam elements and exhibit controlled trapping of elastic energy. The proposed energy-absorbing structures are reusable. Moreover, the mechanism of energy absorption stems solely from the structural geometry of the printed beam elements, and is therefore both material- and loading-rate independent.