TY - JOUR
T1 - A novel design of multi-stable metastructures for energy dissipation
AU - Zhang, Y.
AU - Tichem, Marcel
AU - van Keulen, Fred
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - Multi-stable metastructures composed of curved beams can switch to a series of stable configurations via elastic snap-through transitions. The elastic deformations allow metastructures to function as reusable energy absorbers. However, conventional metastructure designs based on solid beams often result in relatively low energy dissipation. In this work, it is found that by increasing the beam unit's bending stiffness while keeping the volume/mass constant, energy dissipation of the metastructure can be largely improved. Based on this observation, we propose two types of structural designs (lattice and hollow cross-section design) as building blocks for multi-stable metastructures. The lattice design is realized by incorporating lattice structures into pre-shaped beams while for the hollow cross-section design, a box-shaped cross section is adopted. The proposed structures are experimentally characterized under cyclic loading and are shown to exhibit sequential snap-through transitions with relatively large energy dissipation. Results show the snap-through behavior can be further tailored through tuning structural in-plane thickness. Effects of geometric parameters on snap-through, local buckling and bi-stability are investigated, and the feasible design domains for selecting proper lattice and cross-section geometries are identified. In addition, we demonstrate that the proposed design is not restricted to beams, and can be extended to shell structures.
AB - Multi-stable metastructures composed of curved beams can switch to a series of stable configurations via elastic snap-through transitions. The elastic deformations allow metastructures to function as reusable energy absorbers. However, conventional metastructure designs based on solid beams often result in relatively low energy dissipation. In this work, it is found that by increasing the beam unit's bending stiffness while keeping the volume/mass constant, energy dissipation of the metastructure can be largely improved. Based on this observation, we propose two types of structural designs (lattice and hollow cross-section design) as building blocks for multi-stable metastructures. The lattice design is realized by incorporating lattice structures into pre-shaped beams while for the hollow cross-section design, a box-shaped cross section is adopted. The proposed structures are experimentally characterized under cyclic loading and are shown to exhibit sequential snap-through transitions with relatively large energy dissipation. Results show the snap-through behavior can be further tailored through tuning structural in-plane thickness. Effects of geometric parameters on snap-through, local buckling and bi-stability are investigated, and the feasible design domains for selecting proper lattice and cross-section geometries are identified. In addition, we demonstrate that the proposed design is not restricted to beams, and can be extended to shell structures.
KW - Cross-section design
KW - Lattice structure
KW - Multi-stable metastructure
KW - Snap-through behavior
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85118715722&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.matdes.2021.110234
DO - 10.1016/j.matdes.2021.110234
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85118715722
SN - 0264-1275
VL - 212
JO - Materials and Design
JF - Materials and Design
M1 - 110234
ER -