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Architected materials exhibit unique properties and functionalities based on the geometric arrangement of their constituent materials. In most cases, these parameters are fixed, requiring that the system be redesigned and reconstructed if different properties are desired. Both stimuli‐responsive materials and modular designs have been used to enable re‐programmable properties in the past, but often have limitations, such as the need for a continuous application of external stimuli or power, or unwanted global morphing. In this study, a locally stable anti‐tetra chiral (LSAT) metamaterial is introduced consisting of independently multistable units that can deform and change state without inducing changes in the global morphology. Adjacent cells are only weakly coupled, allowing the collective metamaterial to be switched between many different possible states. Local bistability enables re‐programmable heterogeneity, such as the snapping of cells along an edge or diagonally within the architected material. Utilizing finite element analysis (FEA), the influence of key geometric parameters on the re‐programmability of the metamaterials is systematically investigated. The effect of these parameters on properties such as shear stiffness, Poisson's ratio, and vibration are also investigated using experimental prototypes. This re‐programmable metamaterial promises to expand the design space for mechanical systems, with potential applications in non‐traditional computation, robotic actuation, and adaptive structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, mechanical metamaterials have been developed that support the propagation of an intriguing variety of nonlinear waves, including transition waves and vector solitons (solitons with coupling between multiple degrees of freedom). Here we report observations of phase transitions in 2D multistable mechanical metamaterials that are initiated by collisions of soliton-like pulses in the metamaterial. Analogous to first-order phase transitions in crystalline solids, we observe that the multistable metamaterials support phase transitions if the new phase meets or exceeds a critical nucleus size. If this criterion is met, the new phase subsequently propagates in the form of transition waves, converting the rest of the metamaterial to the new phase. More interestingly, we numerically show, using an experimentally validated model, that the critical nucleus can be formed via collisions of soliton-like pulses. Moreover, the rich direction-dependent behavior of the nonlinear pulses enables control of the location of nucleation and the spatio-temporal shape of the growing phase. In high-dimensional multistable mechanical metamaterials, phase transitions can be remotely nucleated and controlled via collisions of nonlinear pulses, potentially bringing new insights for the design of reconfigurable structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Though additive manufacturing and novel optimization techniques have led to many recent advances in elastic metamaterials, difficult fundamental challenges (e.g., narrow bandgaps) and practical challenges (e.g., dissipation and friction) remain. This work introduces simple and hierarchical resonant metamaterials made of soft polydimethylsiloxane rubber and removable steel insets. The additively manufactured samples are able to produce bandgaps with a gap–midgap ratio of 81.8%, which surpasses the majority of resonant, metamaterials of the same class and greatly outperforms analogous resonant structures with a stiff epoxy matrix. The role of several physical features on the transmission loss (TL) curve is assessed in detail numerically and compared to the experimental TL data. Matrix compliance is found to be a rich mechanism for bandgap widening with a dual effect: it deepens the traditional resonant bandgaps, and it can selectively shift certain vibrational modes to lower frequencies and aid in the merging of multiple bandgaps. This can lead to an overall increase of the bandgap width of over an order of magnitude. Viscous dissipation, friction, and the stochastic nature of geometrical inaccuracies common in additive manufacturing were also found to shape the TL curve and associated bandgaps to various degrees. Some of these mechanisms, combined with a soft frame, can further help merge bandgaps in rainbow or hierarchical designs and form ultrabroad, subwavelength bandgaps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mechanical metamaterials enable the creation of structural materials with unprecedented mechanical properties. However, thus far, research on mechanical metamaterials has focused on passive mechanical metamaterials and the tunability of their mechanical properties. Deep integration of multifunctionality, sensing, electrical actuation, information processing, and advancing data-driven designs are grand challenges in the mechanical metamaterials community that could lead to truly intelligent mechanical metamaterials. In this perspective, we provide an overview of mechanical metamaterials within and beyond their classical mechanical functionalities. We discuss various aspects of data-driven approaches for inverse design and optimization of multifunctional mechanical metamaterials. Our aim is to provide new roadmaps for design and discovery of next-generation active and responsive mechanical metamaterials that can interact with the surrounding environment and adapt to various conditions while inheriting all outstanding mechanical features of classical mechanical metamaterials. Next, we deliberate the emerging mechanical metamaterials with specific functionalities to design informative and scientific intelligent devices. We highlight open challenges ahead of mechanical metamaterial systems at the component and integration levels and their transition into the domain of application beyond their mechanical capabilities. Mechanical metamaterials are known for their unconventional mechanical properties. In this perspective, the authors give an overview of the current state of mechanical materials research and suggest a roadmap for next-generation active and responsive mechanical metamaterials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this Letter, we investigate the propagation of nonlinear pulses along the free surface of flexible metamaterials based on the rotating squares mechanism. While these metamaterials have previously been shown to support the propagation of elastic vector solitons through their bulk, here, we demonstrate that they can also support the stable propagation of nonlinear pulses along their free surface. Furthermore, we show that the stability of these surface pulses is higher when they minimally interact with the linear dispersive surface modes. Finally, we provide guidelines to select geometries that minimize these interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soft mechanical metamaterials can support a rich set of dynamic responses, which, to date, have received relatively little attention. Here, we report experimental, numerical, and analytical results describing the behavior of an anisotropic two-dimensional flexible mechanical metamaterial when subjected to impact loading. We not only observe the propagation of elastic vector solitons with three components--two translational and one rotational--that are coupled together, but also very rich direction-dependent behaviors such as the formation of sound bullets and the separation of pulses into different solitary modes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]