3D polycatenated architected materials
Abstract
Architected materials derive their properties from the geometric arrangement of their internal structural elements. Their designs rely on continuous networks of members to control the global mechanical behavior of the bulk. In this study, we introduce a class of materials that consist of discrete concatenated rings or cage particles interlocked in three-dimensional networks, forming polycatenated architected materials (PAMs). We propose a general design framework that translates arbitrary crystalline networks into particle concatenations and geometries. In response to small external loads, PAMs behave like non-Newtonian fluids, showing both shear-thinning and shear-thickening responses, which can be controlled by their catenation topologies. At larger strains, PAMs behave like lattices and foams, with a nonlinear stress-strain relation. At microscale, we demonstrate that PAMs can change their shapes in response to applied electrostatic charges. The distinctive properties of PAMs pave the path for developing stimuli-responsive materials, energy-absorbing systems, and morphing architectures.
Copyright and License
© 2025 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
Acknowledgement
We thank M. L. Hunt, R. X. Fu, T. Zhou, and J. Boddapati for discussions.
Funding
W.Z. and C.D. acknowledge support from the Gary Clinard Innovation Fund and the Army Research Office (MURI ARO W911NF-22-2-0109). Computational resources were provided by the High-Performance Computing Center at Caltech. A.G.I. and X.X. acknowledge the financial support from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s (LLNL) Lab Directed Research and Development Program (22-ERD-004). Work at LLNL was performed under the auspices of the US Department of Energy by LLNL under contract DE-AC52-07NA27344.
Contributions
W.Z. and S.N. contributed equally. W.Z. and C.D. conceived the idea. W.Z. designed the structures and fabricated the samples. W.Z., S.N., and C.D. designed the experiments. S.N., W.Z., A.K.P., and P.P. performed the experiments and analyzed experimental data. L.L. and H.Y. performed numerical simulations and analyzed simulation data. X.X. and W.Z designed the microscale experiments. X.X. and A.G.I. fabricated and tested microscale samples. W.Z. and C.D. wrote the initial draft. All authors interpreted the results and reviewed the manuscript.
Data Availability
All data are available in the main text or the supplementary materials. Other information related to this study is available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Supplemental Material
The PDF file includes:
Materials and Methods
Supplementary Text
Figs. S1 to S25
Tables S1 and S2
References (49–60)
Other Supplementary Material for this manuscript includes the following:
Movies S1 to S9
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Additional details
- United States Army Research Office
- MURI ARO W911NF-22-2-0109
- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
- Lab Directed Research and Development Program 22-ERD-004
- Accepted
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2024-11-11Accepted
- Publication Status
- Published