Design and experimental verification of programmable metastructures based on constant force cells

Abstract Mechanical metastructures consisting of periodic cells with adjustable output force charactersitics and ranges have received increasing attention in recent years owing to its unique capability to tune mechanical properties such as stiffness and Poisson’s ratio etc. In this paper, we present the design, simulation, and experimental characterization of a mechanical metastructure that realizes customized constant force output. The metastructure consists of periodic constant force units that are formed by combining a positive and negative stiffness element. Notably, the force unit also contains a unique flexure design with solid and hollow pins to reduce the lateral stress by 50%, which allows for precise control of the output force. By using a programmable design method, the force unit forms 2D and 3D metastructures via parallel and tendem stacking. Simulations were performed to optimize the design and predict the device performance. Finally, experiments were devised and performed to verify the simulation results of the metastructures. The promising results warrant the wide application of the new mechanical metastructure as well as the programmable design method, such as low-pass mechanical filters, noise and vibration cancellation devices etc.