Out-of-plane deflection of plate-like metastructures in tension due to corrugation asymmetry

Architected metastructures offer unprecedented mechanical characteristics due to particular design and assembly of engineered local structures. Here, we study the out-of-plane deflection of plate-like metas-tructures designed with hexagonal corrugation. Due to the out-of-plane asymmetry of the corrugation, our metaplates develop out-of-plane deflection when put under tension. A theoretical model is developed to analyze the tensile response of the corrugated metaplates, and experiments are conducted on the metaplates made of silicone rubber. The tensile modulus of the silicone rubber is calibrated and the rubber metaplates are then measured under tension. Numerical simulations validate the theoretical and experimental results, and satisfactory agreements are obtained for the force-displacement relations (i.e., effective tensile modulus) and out-of-plane deflection. Parametric studies are carried out to investigate the influences of the geometry (e.g., height h and thickness t) and the corrugation pattern (e.g., hexagonal diameter D-hex and rib width W-rib) on the tensile response of the metaplates. The presented cor-rugated metaplates are envisioned as a promising path to optimize structures for multifunctional appli-cations (e.g., wings in flying robots or light sails for interstellar space travel). (C) 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

Architected metastructures with hexagonal corrugation exhibit out-of-plane deflection under tension, which is analyzed theoretically and experimentally in this study. Parameter studies are conducted to investigate the influences of geometric factors on the tensile response of metaplates. These corrugated metaplates are envisioned as a promising path for optimizing structures for multifunctional applications, such as wings in flying robots or light sails for interstellar space travel.