Nonlinear force response of modular lattice-based metamaterials
Abstract
Lattice-based metamaterials provide lightweight platforms where local instabilities can govern the global mechanical response, enabling applications in energy routing, vibration isolation, and impact mitigation. Although much progress has been made in controlling deformation and buckling sequences through geometric design, the behavior of coupled nonlinear units over a large range of strain rates and their history-dependent response is less explored. Here, we investigate lattice-based mechanical metamaterials whose nonlinear buckling behavior can be harnessed through modular architectures. By combining modular units in series, we show that their interaction gives rise to emergent force responses, including transient weakening and enhanced force attenuation, that are absent in the individual modules. Furthermore, selected designs exhibit training behavior under cyclic loading, transitioning between distinct buckling states and revealing a history-dependent mechanical response. Our results demonstrate that modular, instability-driven metamaterials can be programmed and tuned not only through geometry but also through loading history, opening new avenues for designing a nonlinear stress-response in mechanical systems.
Related
- Constant force amplifies pulse solitons via polarization coupling in mechanical metamaterials
- Quantum Thermodynamic Transformation Optics: A Unified Framework for Energy and Entropy With Application to the Casimir Force in Dissipative Metamaterials
- Discontinuous-Property Mechanical Metamaterials: A Framework for Discontinuous Lattice Dynamics
- Scalable construction of force-constant basis sets for large-scale anharmonic lattice-dynamical calculations
- Non-invertible symmetries and modular invariance in lattice models
BibTeX
@misc{meijer2026nonlinear,
title = {{Nonlinear force response of modular lattice-based metamaterials}},
author = {Jochem G. Meijer and Armin Yousefi and Francois Barthelat and Heinrich M. Jaeger},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2609.00395},
eprint = {2609.00395},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.00395},
note = {CC BY-NC-SA 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Nonlinear force response of modular lattice-based metamaterials
AU - Jochem G. Meijer
AU - Armin Yousefi
AU - Francois Barthelat
AU - Heinrich M. Jaeger
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/01
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2609.00395
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.00395
AB - Lattice-based metamaterials provide lightweight platforms where local instabilities can govern the global mechanical response, enabling applications in energy routing, vibration isolation, and impact mitigation. Although much progress has been made in controlling deformation and buckling sequences through geometric design, the behavior of coupled nonlinear units over a large range of strain rates and their history-dependent response is less explored. Here, we investigate lattice-based mechanical metamaterials whose nonlinear buckling behavior can be harnessed through modular architectures. By combining modular units in series, we show that their interaction gives rise to emergent force responses, including transient weakening and enhanced force attenuation, that are absent in the individual modules. Furthermore, selected designs exhibit training behavior under cyclic loading, transitioning between distinct buckling states and revealing a history-dependent mechanical response. Our results demonstrate that modular, instability-driven metamaterials can be programmed and tuned not only through geometry but also through loading history, opening new avenues for designing a nonlinear stress-response in mechanical systems.
ER -