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Mechanical non-reciprocity programmed by shear jamming in soft composite solids.
Chang Xu1, Shuaihu Wang1, Hong Wang2
1Department of Physics, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong SAR, China.
Nature Materials
|November 7, 2025
Summary
Researchers engineered soft composite solids with non-reciprocal mechanics using shear jamming. This breakthrough enables tunable, direction-dependent responses for advanced applications in wave guiding and robotics.
Area of Science:
- Soft matter physics
- Materials science
- Mechanical engineering
Background:
- Mechanical non-reciprocity is traditionally achieved via structural nonlinearities in metamaterials.
- Continuum solids with inherent non-reciprocal mechanics are underexplored for applications like wave guiding and robotics.
- Soft composite solids offer potential for novel non-reciprocal functionalities.
Purpose of the Study:
- To engineer non-reciprocal mechanics in soft composite solids.
- To explore tunable, direction-dependent asymmetric mechanical responses.
- To demonstrate programmable non-reciprocal dynamics in soft materials.
Main Methods:
- Utilizing the shear jamming transition from granular physics.
- Controlling the interplay between inclusion contact networks and matrix elasticity.
- Combining responsive magnetic profiles with anisotropic characteristics of shear-jammed systems.
Main Results:
- Achieved tunable, direction-dependent asymmetry in both shear and normal mechanical responses.
- Demonstrated programmable non-reciprocal dynamics in static and dynamic regimes.
- Enabled asymmetric spatiotemporal control over motion transmission in soft materials.
Conclusions:
- Established a novel strategy for designing non-reciprocal matter in soft composite solids.
- Bridged granular physics with soft material engineering for mechano-intelligent systems.
- Opened new avenues for applications in wave guiding, robotics, and adaptive materials.
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