Reprogrammable Metamaterials

We are currently studying the reprogrammability of mechanical metamaterials to enable post-fabrication tuning of their functionality and responses. 

One example is our all-in-one reprogrammable class of Kagome metamaterials that enable the in-situ reprogramming of zero modes to access the apparently conflicting properties of three primary classes of solids: structure, floppy mechanism, and multistable matter. Through the selective activation of meta-hinges, we can either erase or initiate desired responses on the fly, a hallmark that contrasts with current concepts where stiffness and stability are sealed permanently into their architecture, mostly remaining immutable post-fabrication due to the invariance of zero modes. 

Another example of reprogrammable response we recently investigated is a soft bi-holar domain with a rationally arranged set of soft embeddings that departs from the ideal periodicity. We show that a hysteretic response can be obtained by frustrating the domain post-manufacture mainly by applying a combination of non-uniform lateral confinement and domain tilting that give rise to either weak or strong interaction pathways.

Some Related Publications

Wu L, Pasini D,  Zero modes activation to reconcile floppiness, rigidity, and multistability into an all-in-one class of reprogrammable metamaterials, Nature Communications, Vol 15, 3087, 2024. (PDF)

Wu L, Pasini D,  In situ activation of snap-through instability in multi-response metamaterials through multistable topological transformation, Advanced Materials, Vol 35, 2301109, 2023. (PDF)

Wu L, Pasini D, Topological transformation with emerging zero modes in multistable metamaterials for reprogrammable flexural stiffness, Physics Review Applied, Vol 19, 2023. (PDF)

El Elmi, A, Pasini D, Tunable sequential pathways through spatial partitioning and frustration tuning in soft metamaterials, Soft Matter, 2023. (PDF)

Ma R, Wu L, Pasini D, Contact-driven snapping in thermally actuated metamaterials for fully reversible functionality, Advanced Functional Materials, Vol 33, 2213371, 2023. (PDF)