Functionality through failure: analysis of elastic instability in 2-d lattices.

Daniel Rayneau-Kirkhope
Aalto University


There has recently been great interest in the creation of 2-d mechanical meta-materials that realise novel mechanical behaviour through elastic instability. Properties obtained through elastic instabilities include mechanical hysteresis effects, negative Poisson’s ratio behaviour and frustrated mechanics, all of these phenomena offer the possibility of enhanced functionality through prudent design. In this talk, I will present current work on new analysis methods for elastic instabilities in 2-d lattices based on simple beam-theory and rigid link mechanisms. The work presented will focus on the auxetic behaviour (negative Poisson ratio), however the methodology presented will give a frame work for the analysis of other effects.