Unique elastic, dielectric and piezoelectric properties of micro-architected metamaterials

Abstract

Complex micro-architectures are of critical importance for mechanical metamaterials. In this paper, we introduce a few novel micro-architectures (e.g. wave-networks and helix-networks) into metamaterials via a finite element method. The observed symmetry and scaling behaviors of the apparent elastic/dielectric/piezoelectric properties are systematically analyzed in order to build a complete structure–property space for these micro-architected metamaterials. The results suggest that the “softness” discovered in curvilinear structures results in ultrahigh piezoelectric responses. The presented scheme for iterative study will provide guidelines for the future design of metamaterials.