Mechanical behaviour of metamaterials based on soft materials

Mechanical metamaterials are material structures that have recently garnered significant attention in the research community due to their enhanced mechanical properties which are not found in naturally occurring materials. Coupled with soft materials that are able to deform extensively without failure, as well as their unique properties such as hydrogels being able to swell and shape memory polymers being able to retain their deformed shape upon removal of a load, metamaterials have great potential to be tailored various applications. Hence, this project looks to investigate the potential for soft materials such as hydrogels and shape memory polymers to be used in metamaterial structures to further enhance their properties. Numerical simulations will be conducted to investigate the effects of various soft material parameters on the deformation behaviour of these mechanical metamaterials. Following this, a novel mechanical metamaterial structure will be designed utilising the unique properties of these soft materials. The functionality of this novel metamaterial structure will be studied through numerical analysis in ABAQUS as well. In this report, the results from the test cases used to understand the ABAQUS UHYPER subroutine that describes gel-like materials are first presented. This is followed by studies on the effects of various swelling parameters on metamaterial deformation behaviour. Lastly, the design of a novel mechanical metamaterial with a tuneable Poisson’s ratio through hydrogel deswelling is presented.Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical Engineering