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Cellular solids whose ligaments are made of two distinct materials are constructed for studying their auxeticity and negative thermal expansion via 2D models with the methodology of finite‐element numerical analysis. Three bimaterial cellular models with various radii of ligament curvature (Rc = 5, 8, 11 cm) are analyzed. It is found that when the ligaments comprise aluminum and titanium alloy with Rc = 5 cm, the cellular solid exhibits simultaneous negative effective Poisson's ratio (−0.418) and negative thermal expansion coefficient (−20.82 × 10−6 K−1). When the radius of ligament curvature increases, auxeticity is less pronounced. Positive and negative thermal expansion can be tuned solely by the coefficients of thermal expansion of ligaments' constituents. Furthermore, smaller radii of curvature give rise to larger negative thermal expansion. In addition, modulus mismatch in the bimaterial ligament can be used to tune overall properties. Our findings herein may serve as foundations for the future quantitative design of such cellular materials. In addition, effective Poisson's ratio and coefficient of thermal expansion can be positively or negatively enhanced due to the interplay between the positive and negative phases. Interactions between negative stiffness and larger curvatures may make the system less unstable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chiral materials may exhibit negative Poisson's ratio and deformation‐mode coupling phenomena. The finite element numerical method is adopted to analyze a class of 2D chiral and nonchiral materials and to show the effects of microstructural geometry on their effective elastic properties and coupling between tension/compression and bending. With the same area fraction (AF), nonchiral samples show larger effective moduli than chiral ones. The number of unit cells may reduce negativity in effective Poisson's ratio of the chiral samples due to nonuniform lateral deformation under uniaxial straining. Increasing AF in a hierarchical pattern in the chiral samples makes their Poisson's ratio more negative. Bending occurs in the chiral samples when they are under uniform, uniaxial, tensile, or compressive straining due to the coupling of deformation modes. The sensibility of tension–bending coupling may be controlled by the chiral microstructure. Optimization of the coupling sensitivity may help develop novel mechanical sensors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dynamic mechanical responses of the ferroelastic materials under uniaxial straining and temperature cycling are studied via the Landau-type phase field model in two dimensions. The model may exhibit a single-well (doublewell) energy profile when temperature is greater (less) than the critical temperature. Effective negative stiffness in the vicinity of the temperature-induced solid-solid phase transformation is numerically demonstrated through monotonic uniaxial straining on a single-domain ferroelastic under temperature cycling around the Curie temperature. Under sinusoidal uniaxial straining, the effective Young's modulus and damping, as indicated by the enclosed area of the stress-strain curve, may be largely increased due to the phase transition. Our calculated responses here are consistent with experimental data reported in the literature, as well as theoretical results based on the composite theory with inclusions assumed to have negative modulus. No negative stiffness values are directly assigned in our phase field model as the underlying physics of the order parameters, i.e., spontaneous strains, provides effective negative stiffness into the systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]