Recent theoretical work suggests that systematic pruning of disordered networks consisting of nodes connected by springs can lead to materials that exhibit a host of unusual mechanical properties. In particular, global properties such as the Poisson's ratio or local responses related to deformation can be precisely altered. Tunable mechanical responses would be useful in areas ranging from impact mitigation to robotics and, more generally, for creation of metamaterials with engineered properties. However, experimental attempts to create auxetic materials based on pruning-based theoretical ideas have not been successful. Here we introduce a new and more realistic model of the networks, which incorporates angle-bending forces and the appropriate experimental boundary conditions. A sequential pruning strategy of select bonds in this model is then devised and implemented that enables engineering of specific mechanical behaviors upon deformation, both in the linear and non-linear regimes. In particular, it is shown that the Poisson's ratio can be tuned to arbitrary values. The model and concepts discussed here are validated by preparing physical realizations of the networks designed in this manner, which are produced by laser cutting two-dimensional sheets and are found to behave as predicted. Furthermore, by relying on optimization algorithms, we exploit the networks' susceptibility to tuning to design networks that posses a distribution of stiffer and more compliant bonds, and whose auxetic behavior is even greater than that of homogeneous networks. Taken together, the findings reported here serve to establish that pruned networks represent a promising platform for the creation of novel mechanical metamaterials.
Programmed Internal Reconfigurations in a 3D-Printed Auxetic Metamaterial Enable Fluidic Control for a Vertically Stacked Valve Array
Department of Biology, College of Arts and Sciences, University of North Carolina at Greensboro（北卡罗来纳大学格林斯伯勒分校文理学院生物系）；The Early College at Guilford（吉福德早期学院）
A Robust "Shrink-and-wrap" Piecewise Construction Transforms 3-Dimensional Mesh Structures into Mechanical Metamaterials
Stony Brook University, the State University of New York (SUNY)（纽约州立大学石溪分校）；Department of Biomedical Engineering（纽约州立大学石溪分校工程与应用科学学院）；College of Engineering and Applied Sciences (CEAS)；Stony Brook University, SUNY
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology（麻省理工学院机械工程系）；Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of California Berkeley（加州大学伯克利分校机械工程系）
