Mechanics, Design, and Manufacture of Soft Lattices

A special issue of Applied Mechanics (ISSN 2673-3161).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (28 November 2021) | Viewed by 8533

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164, USA

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Soft lattices are fast emerging as an attractive choice for the design of flexible structures at both mesoscale (e.g., shoes, helmets) and microscale (e.g., auxetic metamaterials) due to their high porosity, light weight, and tailorable material properties such as stiffness and density. These properties make the use of soft lattices desirable in biomedical applications, soft robots, and energy-absorbing devices. The design and manufacture of soft lattices present a different set of challenges than their stiff counterparts owing to differences in manufacturing approaches and materials used. Novel design and manufacturing approaches are needed for easy and efficient fabrication of multimaterial and multifunctional soft lattice structures. Simultaneously, developing effective modeling and simulation strategies for the analysis of soft lattice mechanics is also challenging due to the: 1) multiple length scales involved and 2) complex nonlinear behavior arising from finite deformations, hyper-elastic material response, and instabilities, such as buckling. We invite high-quality original articles that focus on tackling these challenges for this Special Issue on the design, analysis, and manufacture of soft lattice structures.

Dr. Narasimha Boddeti
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • design
  • soft lattices
  • metamaterials
  • 3D printing
  • additive manufacturing

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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21 pages, 6445 KiB  
Article
Nonuniform Deformation of Cell Structures Owing to Plastic Stress Wave Propagation
by Kohei Tateyama and Hiroyuki Yamada
Appl. Mech. 2021, 2(4), 911-931; https://doi.org/10.3390/applmech2040053 - 5 Nov 2021
Viewed by 2348
Abstract
In cell structures, unlike in dense bodies, nonuniform deformation occurs from the impact end, even at velocities in the order of tens to hundreds of meters per second. In this study, we experimentally examine the nonuniform deformation mechanism of cell structures. They prepared [...] Read more.
In cell structures, unlike in dense bodies, nonuniform deformation occurs from the impact end, even at velocities in the order of tens to hundreds of meters per second. In this study, we experimentally examine the nonuniform deformation mechanism of cell structures. They prepared two kinds of specimens: nickel foam (Ni foam) and silicone-rubber-filled nickel foam (Ni/silicone foam). As a dynamic and impact test method (compression velocity of 20 m/s or more), we used a dynamic and impact load-measuring apparatus with opposite load cells to evaluate the loads on both ends of the specimen in one test. At compression velocities of 20 m/s or less, no nonuniform deformations were observed in the Ni foam and the Ni/silicone foam, and the loads on the impact and the fixed ends achieved force equilibrium. The Ni foam showed no change with an increasing strain rate, and the Ni/silicone foam showed a strong strain rate dependence of the flow stress. At a compression velocity of approximately 26 m/s, the loads differed at the two ends of the Ni/silicone foam, and we observed nonuniform deformation from the impact end. The results of the visualization of the load and deformation behavior obtained from both ends of the specimen revealed that the velocity of the plastic stress wave and the length of the specimens are important for nonuniform deformation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mechanics, Design, and Manufacture of Soft Lattices)
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Review

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14 pages, 1382 KiB  
Review
Fabricating Lattice Structures via 3D Printing: The Case of Porous Bio-Engineered Scaffolds
by Antreas Kantaros and Dimitrios Piromalis
Appl. Mech. 2021, 2(2), 289-302; https://doi.org/10.3390/applmech2020018 - 25 May 2021
Cited by 42 | Viewed by 5175
Abstract
Over time, the fabrication of lattice, porous structures has always been a controversial field for researchers and practitioners. Such structures could be fabricated in a stochastic way, thus, with limited control over the actual porosity percentage. The emerging technology of 3D printing, offered [...] Read more.
Over time, the fabrication of lattice, porous structures has always been a controversial field for researchers and practitioners. Such structures could be fabricated in a stochastic way, thus, with limited control over the actual porosity percentage. The emerging technology of 3D printing, offered an automated process that did not require the presence of molds and operated on a layer-by-layer deposition basis, provided the ability to fabricate almost any shape through a variety of materials and methods under the umbrella of the ASTM terminology “additive manufacturing”. In the field of biomedical engineering, the technology was embraced and adopted for relevant applications, offering an elevated degree of design freedom. Applications range in the cases where custom-shaped, patient-specific items have to be produced. Scaffold structures were already a field under research when 3D printing was introduced. These structures had to act as biocompatible, bioresorbable and biodegradable substrates, where the human cells could attach and proliferate. In this way, tissue could be regenerated inside the human body. One of the most important criteria for such a structure to fulfil is the case-specific internal geometry design with a controlled porosity percentage. 3D printing technology offered the ability to tune the internal porosity percentage with great accuracy, along with the ability to fabricate any internal design pattern. In this article, lattice scaffold structures for tissue regeneration are overviewed, and their evolution upon the introduction of 3D printing technology and its employment in their fabrication is described. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mechanics, Design, and Manufacture of Soft Lattices)
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