Advanced Multifunctional and Multiphysics Metamaterials for Mechanical Element Design

经过一个多世纪的汽车工业进步，大约85%的燃料能源仍然浪费在汽车上，并消失在空气中。类似的情况也发生在农业机械、火车和飞机上。能源浪费不仅影响经济，也影响环境。智能材料是降低能源消耗和从这些浪费的能源中获取能源的有前途的替代方案之一。人们正在开发具有多功能和能量采集能力以及低能耗的智能多物理材料，以提供智能的自供电传感器和执行器。轻质蜂窝材料是降低能源消耗的另一种选择。蜂窝固体为需要轻质和坚硬组件的应用提供了一种坚固的低质量替代方案。由重复的单元细胞形成的基于细胞的超材料也使工程师们能够获得超出自然界中发现的物理特性。在生物系统的启发下，智能多功能超材料可以作为一种强大、经济高效的选择来集成智能材料和超材料的多种功能。在生物系统中，结构特性、传感、致动和自我修复被集成在一起。多功能材料不仅可以作为能量收集器，还可以通过嵌入燃料电池或光伏作为结构元件、自供电电子器件、自集成热交换器和电源。加法制造的进展表明，制造多功能超材料是可行的。*我的NSERC Discovery计划旨在开发由具有活性材料支柱的细胞微结构构建的新型超材料。多功能超材料将是轻质、多稳定的，对弹性、电、磁、热、吸湿、化学和光学领域具有响应性。该研究计划的目标是建立一种多尺度多物理方法，制造智能蜂窝固体，并阐明超材料可以取代传统的机械部件。这种先进材料有着巨大的应用；例如，能量收集器可以利用汽车和航天器车架的振动产生的能量，也可以利用燃烧过程中浪费的热量。*研究方法包括多尺度模拟、制造和实验测试。该研究为智能蜂窝固体的创新设计提供了可靠的数据库。多功能超材料的成功开发将开辟一个新的多学科研究方向，并使加拿大处于这项技术的前沿。作为一个长期目标，该研究计划旨在将新型智能超材料和一种计算工具引入广泛的行业。

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.**