Variable Dual Auxeticity of the Hierarchical Mechanical Metamaterial Composed of Re-Entrant Structural Motifs

Herein, a novel hierarchical mechanical metamaterial is proposed that is composed of re-entrant truss-lattice elements. It is shown that this system can deform very differently and can exhibit a versatile extent of the auxetic behavior depending on a small change in the thickness of its hinges. In addition, depending on which hierarchical level is deforming, the whole structure can exhibit a different type of auxetic behavior that corresponds to a unique deformation mechanism. This results in a dual auxetic structure where the interplay between the two auxetic mechanisms determines the evolution of the system. It is also shown that depending on the specific deformation pattern, it is possible to observe a very different behavior of the structure in terms of frequencies of waves that can be transmitted through the system. In fact, it is demonstrated that even a very small change in the parametric design of the system may result in a significantly different bandgap formation that can be useful in the design of tunable vibration dampers or sensors. The possibility of controlling the extent of the auxeticity also makes the proposed metamaterial to be very appealing from the point of view of protective and biomedical devices.

Automated summary

A novel hierarchical mechanical metamaterial composed of re-entrant truss-lattice elements is proposed. It exhibits versatile extent of auxetic behavior depending on the thickness of its hinges. By controlling the deformation pattern, the system can exhibit significantly different bandgap formation, making it useful in the design of vibration dampers or sensors. The proposed metamaterial has potential applications in protective and biomedical devices.