Design and verification of auxetic microstructures using topology optimization and homogenization

The design of mechanical microstructures having auxetic behaviour is proposed in this paper using techniques of topology optimization for compliant mechanisms. A robust hybrid algorithm based on evolutionary algorithms and local search steps is used. The result may need verification in order to accommodate needs not taken into account in the topology optimization. Therefore, a numerical homogenization scheme is used in order to show that the final design still has the wished negative Poisson's property.