Materials Research Lecture

Although the study of the effect of shape and geometry on the mechanical response of solid objects has a long history, the surge of modern techniques to fabricate structures of complex form paired with our ability to simulate and better understand their response has created new opportunities for the design of architected materials with novel functionalities (also referred to as metamaterials). Since the properties of architected materials are primarily governed by the geometry of the structure (as opposed to constitutive ingredients at the material level), we show that   deformation and instabilities, which significantly alter their initial geometry, can be harnessed to achieve new modes of functionality. Here, we focus on two different classes of such structures: systems built using elastic bistable beams and reconfigurable prismatic architected materials comprising a 3D network of plates and hinges.Altogether, these studies can inform simplified routes for the design of tunable architected materials over a wide range of length scales.