Non-cuttable material created through local resonance and strain rate effects

We have created a new architected material, which is both highly deformable and ultra‐resistant to dynamic point loads. The bio-inspired metallic cellular structure (with an internal grid of large ceramic segments) is non-cuttable by an angle grinder and a power drill, and it has only 15% steel density. Our architecture derives its extreme hardness from the local resonance between the embedded ceramics in a flexible cellular matrix and the attacking tool, which produces high-frequency vibrations at the interface. The incomplete consolidation of the ceramic grains during the manufacturing also promoted fragmentation of the ceramic spheres into micron-size particulate matter, which provided an abrasive interface with increasing resistance at higher loading rates. The contrast between the ceramic segments and cellular material was also effective against a waterjet cutter because the convex geometry of the ceramic spheres widened the waterjet and reduced its velocity by two orders of magnitude. Shifting the design paradigm from static resistance to dynamic interactions between the material phases and the applied load could inspire novel, metamorphic materials with pre-programmed mechanisms across different length scales.

Connecting Microstructures for Multiscale Topology Optimization With Connectivity Index Constraints

With the rapid developments of advanced manufacturing and its ability to manufacture microscale features, architected materials are receiving ever increasing attention in many physics fields. Such a design problem can be treated in topology optimization as architected material with repeated unit cells using the homogenization theory with the periodic boundary condition. When multiple architected materials with spatial variations in a structure are considered, a challenge arises in topological solutions, which may not be connected between adjacent material architecture. This paper introduces a new measure, connectivity index (CI), to quantify the topological connectivity, and adds it as a constraint in multiscale topology optimization to achieve connected architected materials. Numerical investigations reveal that the additional constraints lead to microstructural topologies, which are well connected and do not substantially compromise their optimalities.