Design and printing micro-acousto-mechanical metamaterials

Additive manufacturing has shown the promise of freedom of designs, enabling parts customization and tailorable properties where superior structural performances can be achieved by a fraction of weight density compared to bulk material. However, it is presently difficult to combine multiple classes of materials (structural, dielectric, conducting, and ferroelectrics) and create features with hierarchical length-scales. Unlike biological systems where functions, including sensing, actuation, and control, are closely integrated, few materials have comparable system complexity. In this talk, I will present the design and printing of energy transduction devices comprised of heterogenous 3-D microarchitectures. The printed materials consist of a network of micro-unit cells enabling programmed sensitivity and directivity of external stimuli coming from different directions. I will lay out design and printing principles that enable a new class of materials capable of acoustics, tactile, and haptics generation. I will present the manufacturing and synthesis of these materials, as well as their mechanics and design methods underpinning their novel behaviors.