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Soft porous metamaterials using inflation-induced buckling for smart actuation
Kieran Barvenik1, Michael Bonthron1, Anthony Jones1
1Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA.
Nature Communications
|August 25, 2025
Summary
This study introduces novel inflatable cellular metamaterials that buckle upon inflation, enabling programmable shape changes. These soft metamaterials offer advanced control for soft intelligent machines and new actuation mechanisms.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Mechanical Engineering
- Robotics
Background:
- Cellular metamaterials offer tunable structure-property relationships for enhanced mechanical responses.
- Traditional metamaterials rely on compression or deflation for pattern transformation.
- Soft intelligent machines require advanced programming and sequencing capabilities.
Purpose of the Study:
- To theoretically investigate and experimentally realize a new class of soft, porous metamaterials that exhibit buckling instability upon inflation.
- To demonstrate programmable post-buckling behavior through geometric parameter tuning.
- To develop a novel actuation mechanism for soft intelligent machines.
Main Methods:
- Theoretical investigation and experimental realization of inflatable cellular metamaterials.
- Engineering of internal pressure cavities and periodic pore structures.
- Analytical and numerical methods to predict buckling pressure and pattern reconfiguration.
Main Results:
- Demonstrated programmable post-buckling behavior in inflatable cellular metamaterials by tuning geometric parameters.
- Accurately predicted critical buckling pressure and pattern reconfiguration using analytical and numerical models.
- Achieved controllable circumferential lobe counts in cylindrical pores upon inflation.
Conclusions:
- Inflatable cellular metamaterials offer superior programming and sequencing capabilities for soft intelligent machines.
- The developed metamaterials enable a new actuation mechanism for sudden global structure reconfiguration.
- Applications include selective grasping of slender objects and multi-channel fluid operation with a single input.
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