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Abstract Magneto‐elastic materials facilitate features such as shape programmability, adaptive stiffness, and tunable strength, which are critical for advances in structural and robotic materials. Magneto‐elastic networks are commonly fabricated by employing hard magnets embedded in soft matrices to constitute a monolithic body. These architected network materials have excellent mechanical properties but damage incurred in extreme loading scenarios are permanent. To overcome this limitation, we present a novel design for elastic bars with permanent fixed dipole magnets at their ends and demonstrate their ability to self‐assemble into magneto‐elastic networks under random vibrations. The magneto‐elastic unit configuration, most notably the orientation of end dipoles, is shown to dictate the self‐assembled network topology, which can range from quasi‐ordered triangular lattices to stacks or strings of particles. Network mechanics are probed with uniaxial tensile tests and design criteria for forming stable lightweight 2D networks are established. It is shown that these magneto‐elastic networks rearrange and break gracefully at their magnetic nodes under large excitations and yet recover their original structure at moderate random excitations. This work paves the way for structural materials that can be self‐assembled and repaired on‐the‐fly with random vibrations, and broadens the applications of magneto‐elastic soft materials.
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Multi-Stability Property of Magneto-Kresling Truss Structures
Abstract The Kresling truss structure, derived from Kresling origami, has been widely studied for its bi-stability and various other properties that are useful for diverse engineering applications. The stable states of Kresling trusses are governed by their geometry and elastic response, which involves a limited design space that has been well explored in previous studies. In this work, we present a magneto-Kresling truss design that involves embedding nodal magnets in the structure, which results in a more complex energy landscape, and consequently, greater tunability under mechanical deformation. We explore this energy landscape first along the zero-torque folding path and then release the restraint on the path to explore the complete two-degree-of-freedom behavior for various structural geometries and magnet strengths. We show that the magnetic interaction could alter the potential energy landscape by either changing the stable configuration, adjusting the energy well depth, or both. Energy wells with different minima endow this magneto-elastic structure with an outstanding energy storage capacity. More interestingly, proper design of the magneto-Kresling truss system yields a tri-stable structure, which is not possible in the absence of magnets. We also demonstrate various loading paths that can induce desired conformational changes of the structure. The proposed magneto-Kresling truss design sets the stage for fabricating tunable, scalable magneto-elastic multi-stable systems that can be easily utilized for applications in energy harvesting, storage, vibration control, as well as active structures with shape-shifting capability.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2034584
- PAR ID:
- 10319931
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Applied Mechanics
- Volume:
- 88
- Issue:
- 9
- ISSN:
- 0021-8936
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4051705
