Design of mechanical metamaterial for energy absorption using a beam with a variable cross-section

Abstract

In this study, the energy-dissipating characteristic of a cell of a mechanical metamaterial is developed based on a beam with a variable cross-section. An optimization model is described with the use of the chained beam constraint model (CBCM) to discretize and approximate the beam to obtain the variable cross-section beam with better energy absorption properties. The optimal configuration of the number of nodes of the CBCM and the design variables confined to the design domain, namely, the length, thickness and width of the beam, is designed and discussed to obtain the cell with high specific energy absorption. The unit cell and mechanical metamaterial are used to verify the effectiveness of the method by simulation and experiment.