Strain amplifying mechano-luminescent mechanical metamaterials

In this paper, we present a strain-amplifying mechano-luminescent mechanical metamaterial (SAM3) to broaden application of mechano-luminescent (ML) composites as a strain sensing composite by overcoming its intrinsic limitations due to high threshold strain and strain rate for ML light emission. Through finite element analysis, candidate SAM3 designs are suggested after evaluating strain-amplifying capabilities of SAM3s using strain-amplifying ratios and strain-amplifying limits. The SAM3 designs are manufactured by printing customized ML resin using a liquid crystal display-based stereolithography 3D printer. The prototypes are then subjected to multiphysics uniaxial tension tests by recording the ML light emission from the SAM3 prototypes using a camera. In addition, mechanical properties of the printed ML composites are characterized.