Meta-material based on an Ideal Spring Lattice: A Linear Elastic Isotropic Material with Zero Poisson's Ratio over Large Strains

Abstract

A lot of scientific effort is put into changing mechanical material properties by creating micro-structural architectures instead of chemical composition. This results in meta-materials, which are future materials tuned to the needs of the user. To change the Poisson’s ratio and Young’s modulus, most current designs exploit mechanisms and hinges to obtain the desired behavior. However, this leads to non-linear material properties and anisotropy, especially for large strains. In this work a method is proposed that makes use of specially curved leaf springs (ideal springs) in a planar lattice. The spring characteristics directly determine the Young’s modulus, furthermore is the Poisson’s ratio designed to be zero. These properties are isotropic and linear up to large compressive and tensile strains. The spring designs may not only be used in a lattice, but also could be used as ideal springs or zero free length springs in the field of static balancing.Mechanical, Maritime and Materials EngineeringPrecision and Microsystems Engineerin