Reusable energy-absorbers design harnessing snapping-through buckling of tailored multistable architected materials

Abstract Multistable metamaterials are artificially engineered materials that possess microarchitectures capable of maintaining multiple stable configurations. However, the realization of mechanical metamaterials with numerous programmable stable configurations using Double-Curved Beam (DCB) elements remains an ongoing challenge. In this study, we exploit the snapping-through buckling phenomenon exhibited by architected DCB structures to devise a mechanical metamaterial with a unique deformation mode, encompassing Multi-stability, Multi-path, Multi-platform, and Multi-step characteristics, hence referred to as a 4M mechanical metamaterial. By employing DCB as fundamental building block elements, architected metamaterials with two-dimensional (2D) series or parallel lattices are successfully constructed, as well as three-dimensional (3D) tubular geometries, denoted as DCB-n-m-C and DCB-n-m-M metamaterials, respectively. These metamaterials exhibit reversible energy absorption characteristics and the stiffness can be transformed from positive to negative under both small and large elastic deformations. Functional gradient design and tailored deformation capability are given by adjusting the wall thickness of each layer of double-curved beams, thereby demonstrating the multi-path deformation features inherent in 4M metamaterials. DCB-n-m-M metamaterials has multiple energy platforms in the process of snapping-through, which reflects the multi-platform characteristics of 4M metamaterial. Consequently, novel properties such as multistability, programmability, and reusable energy absorption characteristics are achieved. To comprehensively understand the mechanical response of the metamaterials, a thorough investigation into the influence of geometric parameters is conducted, including the number of polygonal edges, the number of the layers, and the aspect ratio Q. This investigation involves a combination of theoretical analyses, numerical simulations, and experimental verifications. The introduced design strategy paves a way for the innovative design of multistable, multi-step, tailored, and reversible deformation metamaterials.