Session: Rising Stars of Mechanical Engineering Celebration & Showcase

Paper Number: 148668

148668 - Reconfigurable Dynamic Metamaterials Interacting With Flowing Fluids 

Nonlinear mechanical metamaterials (i.e. materials whose properties emerge from structure rather than chemical composition) are showing promising ways to control nonlinear transition waves; however, these metastructures still present both theoretical and practical limitations such as one-time limit operations and extremely complex physical designs which most of the time make them nonviable in the real world applications. To overcome these limitations and turn these multistable dynamic metamaterials into self-reconfigurable systems with distributed intelligence, fluidic stimuli can be exploited. More specifically, this research wants to develop and lead a new field of research on dynamically responsive multistable metamaterials able to store and quickly release energy through morphing surfaces interacting with flowing fluid (i.e. flow-responsive metamaterials). For the first time, the research disciplines of metamaterials and fluid-structure interaction are combined to (i) passively manipulate multiple nonlinear transition waves, (ii) achieve on-the-fly dynamical properties through tunable shape-shifting profiles, (iii) extract energy from the flowing fluid to generate continuum distributed actuation through system reconfiguration, and (iv) leverage flow-induced vibrations for passively controlling viscous flow. The so obtained self-powered reconfigurable systems will be able to selectively store, release, focus, and transfer energy within a medium. Their applications span from continuum robots to self-reconfigurable cardiovascular prostheses.

This research is using analytical analysis to properly understand the physics behind the two-ways interaction between a flowing fluid and a multistable metamaterials; additionally, due to the profound novelty of this field of research, a comprehensive experimental campaign is going to be performed. A first study on the actuation of multistable mechanical metamaterials’ building block has already been completed and published on the Journal of Applied Mechanics (JAM). This journal publication has been awarded the 2024 ASME Henry Hess Early Career Publication Award. In this study the dynamic response of a bistable building block, manifesting either a symmetric or asymmetric energy landscape, excited by an oscillatory load is analytically investigated. By introducing a first of its kind novel energy potential criterion the dynamic behavior of the bistable building block can be classified from intrawell motion to periodic and chaotic interwell motion. This first journal paper unveils the potential of the building blocks as energy harvesters and passive fluidic controllers showing how their snap-through instability can be harnessed and pre-programmed. The promising results deriving from this initial research phase, bring to explore the dynamic response of a one-dimensional chain of bistable elements tessellated to manipulate transition waves and control the metamaterial shape reconfiguration. By varying the magnitude and frequency of excitation, we tailor the motion of the structure with respect to its stable equilibrium states. We reveal regions within the parameter space ranging from intrawell motion constrained to a single energy well to periodic and chaotic interwell motion which vacillates between multiple energy wells. Next, the system excitation will be provided by flowing fluids and the fluid-metastructure interactions will be used as a twofold “dynamic knob” to (1) manipulate shape reconfigurations in metamaterials and to (2) control fluid fluxes through transition waves in metamaterials. These adaptive dynamic systems hold promises for transformative applications in medical, robotic, and energy research fields.

Presenting Author: Eleonora Tubaldi University of Maryland, College Park

Presenting Author Biography: Dr. Tubaldi is Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Maryland, College Park. She received her Ph.D. degree at McGill University in 2017 in Mechanical Engineering. Her research interests sit at the interface of nonlinear dynamics, fluid-structure interaction, and soft materials for applications in mechanical metamaterials, soft robotics, and biomechanics. Recently, she has been awarded the 2024 ASME Henry Hess Early Career Publication Award, 2023 NSF CAREER Award, and the 2020 Haythornthwaite Young Investigator Award from the ASME Applied Mechanics Division.

Authors:

Eleonora Tubaldi University of Maryland, College Park