Delocalized Deformation Enhanced Reusable Energy Absorption Metamaterials Based on Bistable Tensegrity

Abstract

Mechanical metamaterials are rationally designed structures possessing exceptional properties that can be manufactured by 3D printing techniques. Mechanical metamaterials provide an unprecedented platform for energy absorption, mitigating damage caused by severe localized impacts within confined areas. However, current designs always reveal deficiencies either in their energy absorption capacities or in their suitability for repetitive utilization. To address such limits, a novel bistable tensegrity structure with superior reusability is derived from a classical tensegrity structure, and a tensegrity‐based assembly strategy is proposed to construct these bistable structures into mechanical metamaterials with a delocalized deformation mechanism. Upon a localized impact on a single loading node, all the elastic components of each reusable bistable structure in the mechanical metamaterials stretch synchronously for energy absorption, exhibiting higher energy‐absorbing capacity. Here, the metamaterials achieve an energy‐absorbing capacity of 26.4 kJ (kg m2)−1 over 10 000 cycles, outperforming other reusable materials by ≈2 orders of magnitude in energy‐absorbing capacity and reusability, respectively. This study provides a novel tensegrity‐based design assembly strategy for developing high‐capacity, reusable energy‐absorbing materials that are suitable for advanced impact protection and engineering systems.