Planar lattices with tailorable coefficient of thermal expansion and high stiffness based on dual-material triangle unit

Abstract

The unexpected thermal distortions and failures in engineering raise the big concern about thermal expansion controlling. Thus, design of tailorable coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) is urgently needed for the materials used in large temperature variation circumstance. Here, inspired by multi-fold rotational symmetry in crystallography, we have devised six kinds of periodic planar lattices, which incorporate tailorable CTE and high specific biaxial stiffness. Fabrication process, which overcame shortcomings of welding or adhesion connection, was developed for the dual-material planar lattices. The analytical predictions agreed well with the CTE measurements. It is shown that the planar lattices fabricated from positive CTE constituents, can give large positive, near zero and even negative CTEs. Furthermore, a generalized stationary node method was proposed for aperiodic lattices and even arbitrary structures with desirable thermal expansion. As an example, aperiodic quasicrystal lattices were designed and exhibited zero thermal expansion property. The proposed method for the lattices of lightweight, robust stiffness, strength and tailorable thermal expansion is useful in the engineering applications.