Advanced Multifunctional and Multiphysics Metamaterials for Mechanical Element Design

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After more than a century of advances in the automotive industry, about 85 percent of fuel energy is still wasted in cars and is lost in the air. Similar scenarios occur with agricultural machines, trains, and airplanes. The energy waste does not only affect the economy, but also the environment. Smart materials are one of the promising alternatives for the reduction of energy consumption and for harvesting energy from these wasted energy resources. Smart multiphysics materials with multifunctional and energy harvesting abilities and a low level of energy consumption are being developed to provide intelligent self-powered sensors and actuators. Lightweight cellular materials are another alternative to reduce energy consumption. Cellular solids offer a robust low-mass alternative for applications requiring lightweight and stiff components. Cellular-based metamaterials fashioned by repeating unit cells have also enabled engineers to achieve physical properties beyond those found in nature. Inspired by biological systems, in which structural properties, sensing, actuating, and self-healing are integrated, smart multifunctional metamaterials can be introduced as a robust, cost-effective alternative to integrate multiple functionalities of smart materials and metamaterials. Multifunctional materials can not only serve as energy harvesters, but also as structural elements, self-powered electric devices, self-integrated heat exchangers, and power sources via embedded fuel-cells or photovoltaics. Advances in additive manufacturing have shown that fabricating multifunctional metamaterials is feasible. My NSERC Discovery program aims to develop novel metamaterials constructed of a cellular microarchitecture with struts of active materials. The multifunctional metamaterials will be lightweight, multistable, and responsive to elastic, electric, magnetic, thermal, hygroscopic, chemical, and optical fields. The objective of the research program is to establish a multiscale multiphysics methodology, to manufacture smart cellular solids, and to elucidate that metamaterials can replace traditional mechanical components. Such advanced materials have enormous applications; for instance, energy harvesters can harness energy from the vibration of the frame of automobiles and space vehicles and also from the heat wasted in the combustion process. The research methodology consists of multiscale simulation, manufacturing, and experimental testing. The research provides a robust database for the innovative design of smart cellular solids. The successful development of multifunctional metamaterials will open a new multidisciplinary research direction and put Canada at the cutting edge of this technology. As a long-term objective, the research program aims to introduce novel smart metamaterials and a computational tool to a broad spectrum of industries.