Ceramics have some of the highest strength- and stiffness-to-weight ratios of any material but are suboptimal for use as structural materials because of their brittleness and sensitivity to flaws. We demonstrate the creation of structural metamaterials composed of nanoscale ceramics that are simultaneously ultralight, strong, and energy-absorbing and can recover their original shape after compressions in excess of 50% strain. Hollow-tube alumina nanolattices were fabricated using two-photon lithography, atomic layer deposition, and oxygen plasma etching. Structures were made with wall thicknesses of 5 to 60 nanometers and densities of 6.3 to 258 kilograms per cubic meter. Compression experiments revealed that optimizing the wall thickness-to-radius ratio of the tubes can suppress brittle fracture in the constituent solid in favor of elastic shell buckling, resulting in ductile-like deformation and recoverability.

Strong, lightweight, and recoverable three-dimensional ceramic nanolattices

Materials with three-dimensional micro- and nanoarchitectures exhibit many beneficial mechanical, energy conversion and optical properties. However, these three-dimensional microarchitectures are significantly limited by their scalability. Efforts have only been successful only in demonstrating overall structure sizes of hundreds of micrometres, or contain size-scale gaps of several orders of magnitude. This results in degraded mechanical properties at the macroscale. Here we demonstrate hierarchical metamaterials with disparate three-dimensional features spanning seven orders of magnitude, from nanometres to centimetres. At the macroscale they achieve high tensile elasticity (>20%) not found in their brittle-like metallic constituents, and a near-constant specific strength. Creation of these materials is enabled by a high-resolution, large-area additive manufacturing technique with scalability not achievable by two-photon polymerization or traditional stereolithography. With overall part sizes approaching tens of centimetres, these unique nanostructured metamaterials might find use in a broad array of applications.

Multiscale metallic metamaterials

Hierarchically designed structures with architectural features that span across multiple length scales are found in numerous hard biomaterials, like bone, wood, and glass sponge skeletons, as well as manmade structures, like the Eiffel Tower. It has been hypothesized that their mechanical robustness and damage tolerance stem from sophisticated ordering within the constituents, but the specific role of hierarchy remains to be fully described and understood. We apply the principles of hierarchical design to create structural metamaterials from three material systems: (i) polymer, (ii) hollow ceramic, and (iii) ceramic–polymer composites that are patterned into self-similar unit cells in a fractal-like geometry. In situ nanomechanical experiments revealed (i) a nearly theoretical scaling of structural strength and stiffness with relative density, which outperforms existing nonhierarchical nanolattices; (ii) recoverability, with hollow alumina samples recovering up to 98% of their original height after compression to ≥50% strain; (iii) suppression of brittle failure and structural instabilities in hollow ceramic hierarchical nanolattices; and (iv) a range of deformation mechanisms that can be tuned by changing the slenderness ratios of the beams. Additional levels of hierarchy beyond a second order did not increase the strength or stiffness, which suggests the existence of an optimal degree of hierarchy to amplify resilience. We developed a computational model that captures local stress distributions within the nanolattices under compression and explains some of the underlying deformation mechanisms as well as validates the measured effective stiffness to be interpreted as a metamaterial property.

https://www.pnas.org/content/pnas/112/37/11502.full.pdf

Resilient 3D hierarchical architected metamaterials

Mechanical Metamaterials and Their Engineering Applications

In 1903, Alexander Graham Bell developed a design principle to generate lightweight, mechanically robust lattice structures based on triangular cells; this has since found broad application in lightweight design. Over one hundred years later, the same principle is being used in the fabrication of nanolattice materials, namely lattice structures composed of nanoscale constituents. Taking advantage of the size-dependent properties typical of nanoparticles, nanowires, and thin films, nanolattices redefine the limits of the accessible material-property space throughout different disciplines. Herein, the exceptional mechanical performance of nanolattices, including their ultrahigh strength, damage tolerance, and stiffness, are reviewed, and their potential for multifunctional applications beyond mechanics is examined. The efficient integration of architecture and size-affected properties is key to further develop nanolattices. The introduction of a hierarchical architecture is an effective tool in enhancing mechanical properties, and the eventual goal of nanolattice design may be to replicate the intricate hierarchies and functionalities observed in biological materials. Additive manufacturing and self-assembly techniques enable lattice design at the nanoscale; the scaling-up of nanolattice fabrication is currently the major challenge to their widespread use in technological applications.

Nanolattices: An Emerging Class of Mechanical Metamaterials.

Recent advances in multiscale manufacturing enable fabrication of hollow-truss based lattices with dimensional control spanning seven orders of magnitude in length scale (from ∼50 nm to ∼10 cm), thus enabling the exploitation of nano-scale strengthening mechanisms in a macroscale cellular material. This article develops mechanical models for the compressive strength of hollow microlattices and validates them with a selection of experimental measurements on nickel microlattices over a wide relative density range (0.01–10%). The limitations of beam-theory-based analytical approaches for ultralight designs are emphasized, and suitable numerical (finite elements) models are presented. Subsequently, a novel computational platform is utilized to efficiently scan the entire design space and produce maps for optimally strong designs. The results indicate that a strong compressive response can be obtained by stubby lattice designs at relatively high densities (∼10%) or by selectively thickening the nodes at ultra-low densities.

Compressive strength of hollow microlattices: Experimental characterization, modeling, and optimal design

This paper presents the design, optimization and manufacturing of a novel micro-fabricated load cell based on a double-ended tuning fork. The device geometry and operating voltages are optimized for maximum force resolution and range, subject to a number of manufacturing and electromechanical constraints. All optimizations are enabled by analytical modeling (verified by selected finite elements analyses) coupled with an efficient C++ code based on the particle swarm optimization algorithm. This assessment indicates that force resolutions of ~0.5–10 nN are feasible in vacuum (~1–50 mTorr), with force ranges as large as 1 N. Importantly, the optimal design for vacuum operation is independent of the desired range, ensuring versatility. Experimental verifications on a sub-optimal device fabricated using silicon-on-glass technology demonstrate a resolution of ~23 nN at a vacuum level of ~50 mTorr. The device demonstrated in this article will be integrated in a hybrid micro-mechanical test frame for unprecedented combinations of force resolution and range, displacement resolution and range, optical (or SEM) access to the sample, versatility and cost.

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0960-1317/20/12/125004/pdf

MEMS resonant load cells for micro-mechanical test frames: feasibility study and optimal design

Hollow microlattices constitute a model topology for architected materials, as they combine excellent specific stiffness and strength with relative ease of manufacturing. The most scalable manufacturing technique to date encompasses fabrication of a sacrificial polymeric template by the Self Propagating Photopolymer Waveguide (SPPW) process, followed by thin film coating and removal of the substrate. Accurate modeling of mechanical properties (e.g., stiffness, strength) of hollow microlattices is challenging, primarily due to the complex stress state around the hollow nodes and the existence of manufacturing-induced geometric imperfections (e.g. cracks, non-circularity, etc.). In this work, we use a variety of measuring techniques (SEM imaging, CT scanning, etc.) to characterize the geometric imperfections in a nickel-based ultralight hollow microlattice and investigate their effect on the compressive strength of the lattice. At the strut level, where a more quantitative description of geometric defects is available, the gathered data is used to build a stochastic field model of geometric imperfections using Proper Orthogonal Decomposition. Using Monte Carlo simulations, the critical buckling loads of a large set of imperfect bars created using the stochastic model are then extracted by Finite Elements Analysis. The statistics of the buckling strength in artificially generated bars is then used to explain the scatter in the strength of CT-derived bars and its correlation with the lattice strength measured experimentally. Although the quantitative results are specific to microlattices fabricated by SPPW templating, the methodology presented herein is equally applicable to architected materials produced by other manufacturing processes.

The effect of manufacturing defects on compressive strength of ultralight hollow microlattices: A data-driven study

Recent advances in multi-scale manufacturing enable fabrication of hollow-truss based lattices with dimensional control spanning seven orders of magnitude in length scale (from ~50nm to ~10cm), offering tremendous potential for multifunctionality. Topology optimization is essential to realize the full potential of these micro-architected materials. This paper presents a novel optimal design and modeling platform, consisting of four interconnected tools: (i) a geometric modeling algorithm; (ii) a meshing algorithm; (iii) an optimal design code; and (iv) a communication interface with a commercial Finite Elements program (Abaqus). The powerfulness of the proposed platform is demonstrated for the optimization of specific stiffness in pyramidal hollow micro-lattices.

S.W. Godfrey

Papers

Compressive strength of hollow microlattices: Experimental characterization, modeling, and optimal design

MEMS resonant load cells for micro-mechanical test frames: feasibility study and optimal design

The effect of manufacturing defects on compressive strength of ultralight hollow microlattices: A data-driven study

A Novel Modeling Platform for Characterization and Optimal Design of Micro-Architected Materials