Tailored Buckling Microlattices as Reusable Light-Weight Shock Absorbers.

Frenzel, Tobias; Findeisen, Claudio; Kadic, Muamer; Gumbsch, Peter; Wegener, Martin · Adv Mater · 2016

biomechanical · Level V

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Abstract

Structures and materials absorbing mechanical (shock) energy commonly exploit either viscoelasticity or destructive modifications. Based on a class of uniaxial light-weight geometrically nonlinear mechanical microlattices and using buckling of inner elements, either a sequence of snap-ins followed by irreversible hysteretic - yet repeatable - self-recovery or multistability is achieved, enabling programmable behavior. Proof-of-principle experiments on three-dimensional polymer microstructures are presented.