The Mechanical Responses of Pre-Stressed Meta-Cells

作者：Harisheswara Reddy Eargamreddy, Yunzheng Yang, Siyao Liu, Sinan Müftü, Kai-Tak Wan, Yaning Li · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1115/imece2025-166449 · 研究领域：Cellular and Composite Structures、Topology Optimization in Engineering、Nonlocal and gradient elasticity in micro/nano structures

Abstract Pre-stressed materials are ubiquitous in engineering, nature, and biomedical materials and devices, playing a critical role in enhancing structural performance, durability, and functionality. The ability to manipulate internal stress enables the development of materials with superior mechanical and multifunctional properties. These materials often demonstrate inherent resilience, impressive strength-to-volume ratios, and effective energy absorption. In the last decade, mechanical metamaterials have attracted considerable interest due to their extraordinary properties. In this investigation, we aim to incorporate pre-stress in mechanical metamaterial design to enhance the effective physical properties and broaden applicability of the designs. As the very first step to this overarching goal, this paper investigates two distinct unit meta-cell designs: symmetric and chiral configurations. Systematic finite element (FE) simulations were conducted to evaluate various designs and pre-stress scenarios to determine the optimal setting. Design guidelines were developed, unlocking new pre-stressed mechanical metamaterial design strategies for superior resilience, durability, and strength-to-volume performance for a wide array of applications.