Topology Optimization of Metamaterial Microstructures for Negative Poisson’s Ratio under Large Deformation Using a Gradient-Free Method

Negative Poisson’s ratio(NPR)metamaterials are attractive for their unique mechanical behaviors and potential applications in deformation control and energy absorption.However,when subjected to significant stretching,NPR metamaterials designed under small strain assumption may experience a rapid degradation in NPR performance.To address this issue,this study aims to design metamaterials maintaining a targeted NPR under large deformation by taking advantage of the geometry nonlinearity mechanism.A representative periodic unit cell is modeled considering geometry nonlinearity,and its topology is designed using a gradient-free method.The unit cell microstructural topologies are described with the material-field series-expansion(MFSE)method.The MFSE method assumes spatial correlation of the material distribution,which greatly reduces the number of required design variables.To conveniently design metamaterials with desired NPR under large deformation,we propose a two-stage gradient-free metamaterial topology optimization method,which fully takes advantage of the dimension reduction benefits of the MFSE method and the Kriging surrogate model technique.Initially,we use homogenization to find a preliminary NPR design under a small deformation assumption.In the second stage,we begin with this preliminary design and minimize deviations in NPR from a targeted value under large deformation.Using this strategy and solution technique,we successfully obtain a group of NPR metamaterials that can sustain different desired NPRs in the range of[−0.8,−0.1]under uniaxial stretching up to 20% strain.Furthermore,typical microstructure designs are fabricated and tested through experiments.The experimental results show good consistency with our numerical results,demonstrating the effectiveness of the present gradientfree NPR metamaterial design strategy.

Statics, vibration, and buckling of sandwich plates with metamaterial cores characterized by negative thermal expansion and negative Poisson's ratio

This paper proposes a three-dimensional(3D)Maltese cross metamaterial with negative Poisson’s ratio(NPR)and negative thermal expansion(NTE)adopted as the core layers in sandwich plates,and aims to explore the relations between the mechanical responses of sandwich composites and the NPR or NTE of the metamaterial.First,the NPR and NTE of the metamaterial are derived analytically based on energy conservation.The effective elastic modulus and mass density of the 3D metamaterial are obtained and validated by the finite element method(FEM).Subsequently,the general governing equation of the 3D sandwich plate under thermal environments is established based on Hamilton’s principle with the consideration of the von Kármán nonlinearity.The differential quadrature(DQ)FEM(DQFEM)is utilized to obtain the numerical solutions.It is shown that NPR and NTE can enhance the global stiffness of sandwich structures.The geometric parameters of the Maltese cross metamaterial significantly affect the responses of the thermal stress,natural frequency,and critical buckling load.

Thermally insulating and fire-retardant bio-mimic structural composites with a negative Poisson's ratio for battery protection

Battery safety has attracted considerable attention worldwide due to the rapid development of wearable electronics and the steady increase in the production and use of electric vehicles.As battery failures are often associated with mechanical-thermal coupled behaviors,protective shielding materials with excellent mechanical robustness and flame-retardant properties are highly desired to mitigate thermal runaway.However,most of the thermal insulating materials are not strong enough to protect batteries from mechanical abuse,which is one of the most critical scenarios with catastrophic consequences.Here,inspired by wood,we have developed an effective approach to engineer a hierarchical nanocomposite via self-assembly of calcium silicate hydrate and polyvinyl alcohol polymer chains(referred as CSH wood).The versatile protective material CSH wood demonstrates an unprecedented combination of light weight(0.018 g cm-3),high stiffness(204 MPa in the axial direction),negative Poisson's ratio(-0.15),remarkable toughness(6.67×105 J m-3),superior thermal insulation(0.0204 W m-1 K-1 in the radial direction),and excellent fire retardancy(UL94-V0).When applied as a protective cover or a protective layer within battery packages,the tough CSH wood can resist high-impact load and block heat diffusion to block or delay the spread of fire,therefore significantly reducing the risk of property damage or bodily injuries caused by battery explosions.This work provides new pathways for fabricating advanced thermal insulating materials with large scalability and demonstrates great potential for the protection of electronic devices.

Negative Poisson's ratio and peripheral strain of an NPR anchor cable

Materials with a negative Poisson’s ratio effect perform significantly better than traditional materials for rock mass impact resistance,shear resistance,and energy absorption.Based on these advantages,a negative Poisson’s ratio anchor cable(NPR anchor cable)with high elongation and constant resistance was developed and successfully applied in the field of mine disaster control.However,theoretical and experimental research on the negative Poisson’s ratio effect and peripheral strain characteristics of NPR anchor cables is currently incomplete.This study used several theories and methods,such as static tensile,peripheral strain measurement,and static negative Poisson’s ratio measurement,to investigate the radial deformation law of an NPR anchor cable and the negative Poisson’s ratio characteristics.Experimental results elucidated constant resistance changes in an NPR anchor cable during operation,the motion of the constant resistance body in the constant resistance sleeve,and the deformation law of the constant resistance sleeve.Negative Poisson’s ratio characteristics of the NPR anchor cable and its superior energy absorption characteristics were verified and it provided a theoretical and experimental basis for energy absorption mechanisms of an NPR anchor cable.

Multidisciplinary Design Optimization of Crash Box with Negative Poisson’s Ratio Structure

To improve the crashworthiness and energy absorption performance,a novel crash box negative Poisson’s ratio(NPR)structure is proposed according to the characteristics of low speed collision of bumper system.Taking the peak collision force and the average collision force as two subsystems,a multidisciplinary collaborative optimization design is carried out,and its optimization results are compared with the ones optimized by NSGA-II algorithm.Simulation results show that the crashworthiness and energy absorption performance of the novel crash box is improved effectively based on the multidisciplinary optimization method.

Model test of negative Poisson’s ratio cable for supporting super-largespan tunnel using excavation compensation method

In recent years,there is a scenario in urban tunnel constructions to build super-large-span tunnels for traffic diversion and route optimization purposes.However,the increased size makes tunnel support more difficult.Unfortunately,there are few studies on the failure and support mechanism of the surrounding rocks in the excavation of supported tunnel,while most model tests of super-large-span tunnels focus on the failure characteristics of surrounding rocks in tunnel excavation without supports.Based on excavation compensation method(ECM),model tests of a super-large-span tunnel excavation by different anchor cable support methods in the initial support stage were carried out.The results indicate that during excavation of super-large-span tunnel,the stress and displacement of the shallow surrounding rocks decrease,following a step-shape pattern,and the tunnel failure is mainly concentrated on the vault and spandrel areas.Compared with conventional anchor cable supports,the NPR(negative Poisson’s ratio)anchor cable support is more suitable for the initial support stage of the super-large-span tunnels.The tunnel support theory,model test materials,methods,and the results obtained in this study could provide references for study of similar super-large-span tunnels。

Switchable hidden spin polarization and negative Poisson's ratio in two-dimensional antiferroelectric wurtzite crystals

Two-dimensional(2D)antiferroelectric materials have raised great research interest over the last decade.Here,we reveal a type of 2D antiferroelectric(AFE)crystal where the AFE polarization direction can be switched by a certain degree in the 2D plane.Such 2D functional materials are realized by stacking the exfoliated wurtzite(wz)monolayers with“self-healable”nature,which host strongly coupled ferroelasticity/antiferroelectricity and benign stability.The AFE candidates,i.e.,Zn X and Cd X(X=S,Se,Te),are all semiconductors with direct bandgap atΓpoint,which harbors switchable antiferroelectricity and ferroelasticity with low transition barriers,hidden spin polarization,as well as giant in-plane negative Poisson's ratio(NPR),enabling the co-tunability of hidden spin characteristics and auxetic magnitudes via AFE switching.The 2D AFE wz crystals provide a platform to probe the interplay of 2D antiferroelectricity,ferroelasticity,NPR,and spin effects,shedding new light on the rich physics and device design in wz semiconductors.

A Note on the Effect of Negative Poisson’s Ratio on the Deformation of a Poroelastic Half-Space by Surface Loads

The aim of this note is to study the effect of negative Poisson’s ratio on the quasi-static deformation of a poroelastic half-space with anisotropic permeability and compressible fluid and solid constituents by surface loads. Two particular cases considered are: two-dimensional normal strip loading and axisymmetric normal disc loading. It is found that a negative Poisson’s ratio makes the Mandel-Cryer effect more prominent. It also results in an increase in the magnitude of the surface settlement.

Mechanical design and analysis of bio-inspired reentrant negative Poisson’s ratio metamaterials with rigid-flexible distinction

Aiming at achieving tunable reentrant structures with rigidity and uniformity,respectively,the C-shaped and S-shaped reentrant metamaterials were proposed by the bionic design of animal structures.Utilizing beam theory and energy methodology,the analytical expressions of the equivalent elastic modulus of the metamaterials were derived.Differences in deformation modes,mechanical properties,and energy absorption capacities were characterized by using experiments and the finite element analysis method.The effects of ligament angle and thickness on the mechanical characteristics of two novel metamaterials were investigated by using a parametric analysis.The results show that the stiffness,deformation mode,stress-strain curve,and energy absorption effects of three metamaterials are significantly different.This design philosophy can be extended from 2D to 3D and is applicable at multiple dimensions.

Path-Dependent Progressive Failure Analysis for 3D-Printed Continuous Carbon Fibre Reinforced Composites

In order to predict the damage behaviours of 3D-printed continuous carbon fibre(CCF)reinforced composites,when additional short carbon fibre(SCF)composite components are employed for continuous printing or special functionality,a novel path-dependent progressive failure(PDPF)numerical approach is developed.First,a progressive failure model using Hashin failure criteria with continuum damage mechanics to account for the damage initiation and evaluation of 3D-printed CCF reinforced polyamide(PA)composites is developed,based on actual fibre placement trajectories with physical measurements of 3D-printed CCF/PA constituents.Meanwhile,an elastic-plastic model is employed to predict the plastic damage behaviours of SCF/PA parts.Then,the accuracy of the PDPF model was validated so as to study 3D-printed CCF/PA composites with either negative Poisson's ratio or high stiffness.The results demonstrate that the proposed PDPF model can achieve higher prediction accuracies in mechanical properties of these 3D-printed CCF/PA composites.Mechanism analyses show that the stress distribution is generally aggregated in the CCF areas along the fibre placement paths,and the shear damage and matrix tensile/compressive damage are the key damage modes.This study provides a new approach with valuable information for characterising complex 3D-printed continuous fibre-matrix composites with variable mechanical properties and multiple constituents.

Experimental crushing behavior and energy absorption of angular gradient honeycomb structures under quasi-static and dynamic compression

The high variability of shock in terrorist attacks poses a threat to people's lives and properties,necessitating the development of more effective protective structures.This study focuses on the angle gradient and proposes four different configurations of concave hexagonal honeycomb structures.The structures'macroscopic deformation behavior,stress-strain relationship,and energy dissipation characteristics are evaluated through quasi-static compression and Hopkinson pressure bar impact experiments.The study reveals that,under varying strain rates,the structures deform starting from the weak layer and exhibit significant interlayer separation.Additionally,interlayer shear slip becomes more pronounced with increasing strain rate.In terms of quasi-static compression,symmetric gradient structures demonstrate superior energy absorption,particularly the symmetric negative gradient structure(SNG-SMS)with a specific energy absorption of 13.77 J/cm~3.For dynamic impact,unidirectional gradient structures exhibit exceptional energy absorption,particularly the unidirectional positive gradient honeycomb structure(UPG-SML)with outstanding mechanical properties.The angle gradient design plays a crucial role in determining the structure's stability and deformation mode during impact.Fewer interlayer separations result in a more pronounced negative Poisson's ratio effect and enhance the structure's energy absorption capacity.These findings provide a foundation for the rational design and selection of seismic protection structures in different strain rate impact environments.

Mechanical behavior of 2G NPR bolt anchored rock samples under static disturbance loading

The deep mining of coal resources is accompanied by severe environmental challenges and various potential engineering hazards.The implementation of NPR(negative Poisson's ratio)bolts are capable of controlling large deformations in the surrounding rock effectively.This paper focuses on studying the mechanical properties of the NPR bolt under static disturbance load.The deep nonlinear mechanical experimental system was used to study the mechanical behavior of rock samples with different anchored types(unanchored/PR anchored/2G NPR anchored)under static disturbance load.The whole process of rock samples was taken by high-speed camera to obtain the real-time failure characteristics under static disturbance load.At the same time,the acoustic emission signal was collected to obtain the key characteristic parameters of acoustic emission such as acoustic emission count,energy,and frequency.The deformation at the failure of the samples was calculated and analyzed by digital speckle software.The findings indicate that the failure mode of rock is influenced by different types of anchoring.The peak failure strength of 2G NPR bolt anchored rock samples exhibits an increase of 6.5%when compared to the unanchored rock samples.The cumulative count and cumulative energy of acoustic emission exhibit a decrease of 62.16%and 62.90%,respectively.The maximum deformation of bearing capacity exhibits an increase of 59.27%,while the failure time demonstrates a delay of 42.86%.The peak failure strength of the 2G NPR bolt anchored ones under static disturbance load exhibits an increase of 5.94%when compared to the rock anchored by PR(Poisson's ratio)bolt.The cumulative count and cumulative energy of acoustic emission exhibit a decrease of 47.16%and 43.86%,respectively.The maximum deformation of the bearing capacity exhibits an increase of 50.43%,and the failure time demonstrates a delay of 32%.After anchoring by 2G NPR bolt,anchoring support effectively reduces the risk of damage caused by static disturbance load.These results demonstrate that the support effect of 2G NPR bolt materials surpasses that of PR bolt.

Energy Absorption by 3D-Printed Mesh Structures with a Negative Poisson’s Ratio

A negative Poisson's ratio(NPR)structure represents optimal impact-resistance with applications in various fields,including the crash box in vehicles,which absorbs impact kinetic energy.The crash box is designed to deform in response to impact,increasing local structural density,which enhances impact resistance performance.Current studies have only focused on the NPR effect in the plane dimension at low-speed loads.Few studies have considered high-speed impact loads on three-dimensional NPR structures.We have developed two types of AlSi10Mg alloy energy-absorbing structures with NPR using three-dimensional printing technology,and have compared our systems with a conventional hexagonal mesh structure.Sample testing involved split-Hopkinson pressure bar measurements,which showed good agreement with dynamic numerical simulations.When subjected to an impact load,the NPR structure exhibited better impact resistance and energy absorption compared with the positive Poisson's ratio structure.The proposed dual-layer hexagonal structure ensures an NPR effect while exhibiting higher strength and improved stability relative to the conventional concave hexagon structure.

Negative Poisson’s ratio cable compensation support for 32 m super-large-span highway tunnel:A case study

Although super-large-span tunnels ensure convenient transportation,they face many support challenges.The lack of normative construction guidance and the limited number of reference engineering cases pose a significant challenge to the stability control of superlarge-span tunnels.Based on the geological conditions of a super-large-span tunnel(span=32.17 m)at the bifurcation section of the Shenzhen interchange,this study determined support parameters via theoretical calculation,numerical simulation,and engineering analogy.The support effects of negative Poisson’s ratio(NPR)anchor cables and ordinary anchor cables on super-long-span tunnels were simulated and studied.Further,based on FLAC3D simulations,the surrounding rock stress field of NPR anchor cables was analyzed under different prestressing conditions,and the mechanism of a long-short combination,high-prestress compensation NPR anchor cable support was revealed.On the basis of numerical simulations,to our knowledge,the three-dimensional(3D)geomechanical model test of the NPR anchor cable and ordinary anchor cable support for super-large-span tunnel excavation is conducted for the first time,revealing the stress evolution law of super-large-span tunnels,deformation and failure characteristics of the surrounding rock,and the changing trend of the anchor cable’s axial force,and verifies that NPR anchor cables with high preloads are suitable for super-large-span tunnel support and have advantages over ordinary anchor cables.This study can provide a reliable theoretical reference for the support design and stability control of the surrounding rock of similar shallow-buried super-large-span tunnels.

A new design of 3D-printed orthopedic bone plates with auxeticstructures to mitigate stress shielding and improve intra-operative bending

Orthopedic bone plates are most commonly used for bone fracture fixation for more than 100 years.The bone plate design had evolved over time overcoming many challenges such as insufficient strength and excessive plate–bone contact affecting the blood circulation.However,it is only made of two materials,either stainless steel(AISI 316L)or titanium(Ti–6Al–4V).There are two main limitations of metallic bone implants,namely stress shielding and the problem of malocclusion caused by the displacement of the fracture site during healing.To overcome the two problems,a new bone plate design with the incorporation of auxetic structures is proposed in this work.This study aims to use auxetic structure section in the bone plate that would decrease the stiffness of the region,thereby mitigating the stress-shielding effect and at the same time act as a deformable section to enable intra-operative bending for effective alignment while having enough bending strength and stiffness.Two different auxetic structures namely re-entrant honeycomb and missing rib structures were considered.The auxetic structure incorporated bone plates were designed,finite element analysis was done,fabricated using direct metal laser sintering technique,and tested.The results indicate that the re-entrant honeycomb structure incorporated bone plates serve as an effective bone design compared to the conventional bone plate design,in terms of stress shielding and intra-operative bending while offering similar mechanical and bending strength.

4D printing of personalized shape memory polymer vascular stents with negative Poisson’s ratio structure:A preliminary study

Four-dimensional(4D)printing,integrates transformation information into three-dimensional(3D)-printed structures,which means that 3D-printed structures are able to change their shapes,properties,or functionalities over time.Here,two types of shape memory personalized vascular stents with negative Poisson’s ratio structure are developed via 4D printing.The genetic algorithm is used to optimize the structure.Axial compression tests,radial compression tests and three-point bending tests are carried out to study the mechanical properties of the stents.In addition,fluid-structure interaction and stress distribution during the shape recovery process are investigated based on finite element method.The shape memory behaviors of the stents are excellent and in vitro feasibility tests demonstrate that the stents can expand the simulated narrow blood vessel rapidly.Therefore,4D printed shape memory stents with negative Poisson’s ratio structure are highly promising for the treatment of vascular stenosis.

Full‑Fiber Auxetic‑Interlaced Yarn Sensor for Sign‑Language Translation Glove Assisted by Artificial Neural Network

Yarn sensors have shown promising application prospects in wearable electronics owing to their shape adaptability, good flexibility, and weavability. However, it is still a critical challenge to develop simultaneously structure stable, fast response, body conformal, mechanical robust yarn sensor using full microfibers in an industrial-scalable manner. Herein, a full-fiber auxetic-interlaced yarn sensor(AIYS) with negative Poisson’s ratio is designed and fabricated using a continuous, mass-producible, structure-programmable, and low-cost spinning technology. Based on the unique microfiber interlaced architecture, AIYS simultaneously achieves a Poisson’s ratio of-1.5, a robust mechanical property(0.6 c N/dtex), and a fast train-resistance responsiveness(0.025 s), which enhances conformality with the human body and quickly transduce human joint bending and/or stretching into electrical signals. Moreover, AIYS shows good flexibility, washability, weavability, and high repeatability. Furtherly, with the AIYS array, an ultrafast full-letter sign-language translation glove is developed using artificial neural network. The sign-language translation glove achieves an accuracy of 99.8% for all letters of the English alphabet within a short time of 0.25 s. Furthermore, owing to excellent full letter-recognition ability, real-time translation of daily dialogues and complex sentences is also demonstrated. The smart glove exhibits a remarkable potential in eliminating the communication barriers between signers and non-signers.

Data-Driven Structural Design Optimization for Petal-Shaped Auxetics Using Isogeometric Analysis

Focusing on the structural optimization of auxetic materials using data-driven methods,a back-propagation neural network(BPNN)based design framework is developed for petal-shaped auxetics using isogeometric analysis.Adopting a NURBSbased parametric modelling scheme with a small number of design variables,the highly nonlinear relation between the input geometry variables and the effective material properties is obtained using BPNN-based fitting method,and demonstrated in this work to give high accuracy and efficiency.Such BPNN-based fitting functions also enable an easy analytical sensitivity analysis,in contrast to the generally complex procedures of typical shape and size sensitivity approaches.

Experimental study on the shear performance of quasi-NPR steel bolted rock joints

Quasi-NPR(negative Poisson’s ratio)steel is a new type of super bolt material with high strength,high ductility,and a micro-negative Poisson’s effect.This material overcomes the contrasting characteristics of the high strength and high ductility of steel and it has significant energy-absorbing characteristics,which is of high value in deep rock and soil support engineering.However,research on the shear resistance of quasi-NPR steel has not been carried out.To study the shear performance of quasi-NPR steel bolted rock joints,indoor shear tests of bolted rock joints under different normal stress conditions were carried out.Q235 steel and#45 steel,two representative ordinary bolt steels,were set up as a control group for comparative tests to compare and analyze the shear strength,deformation and instability mode,shear energy absorption characteristics,and bolting contribution of different types of bolts.The results show that the jointed rock masses without bolt reinforcement undergo brittle failure under shear load,while the bolted jointed rock masses show obvious ductile failure characteristics.The shear deformation ca-pacity of quasi-NPR steel is more than 3.5 times that of Q235 steel and#45 steel.No fracture occurs in the quasi-NPR steel during large shear deformation and it can provide stable shear resistance.However,the other two types of control bolts become fractured under the same conditions.Quasi-NPR steel has significant energy-absorbing characteristics under shear load and has obvious advantages in terms of absorbing the energy released by shear deformation of jointed rock masses as compared with ordinary steel.In particular,the shear force plays a major role in resisting the shear deformation of Q235 steel and#45 steel,therefore,fracture failure occurs under small bolt deformation.However,the axial force of quasi-NPR steel can be fully exerted when resisting joint shear deformation;the steel itself does not break when large shear deformation occurs,and the supporting effect of the jointed rock mass is effectively guaranteed.

Parametric design strategy of a novel cylindrical negative Poisson's ratio jounce bumper for ideal uniaxial compression load-displacement curve

A cylindrical negative Poisson's ratio(CNPR) structure based on two-dimensional double-arrow negative Poisson's ratio(NPR)structure was introduced in this paper. The CNPR structure has excellent stiffness, damping and energy absorption performances,and can be applied as spring, damper and energy absorbing components. In this study, the CNPR structure was used as a jounce bumper in vehicle suspension, and the load-displacement curve of NPR jounce bumper was discussed. Moreover, the influences of structural parameters and materials on the load-displacement curve of NPR jounce bumper were specifically researched. It came to the conclusion that only the numbers of cells and layers impact the hardening displacement of NPR jounce bumper. And all parameters significantly affect the structure stiffness at different displacement periods. On the other hand, the load-displacement curve of NPR jounce bumper should be in an ideal region which is difficult to be achieved applying mathematical optimization method. Therefore, a parametric design strategy of NPR jounce bumper was proposed according to the parametric analysis results. The design strategy had two main steps: design of hardening displacement and design of stiffness. The analysis results proved that the proposed method is reliable and is also meaningful for relevant structure design problem.