Hysteretic slit-snapping and multistability in buckled beams with partial cuts

Area of Science:

• Mechanical Engineering
• Materials Science
• Physics

Background:

• Elastic instabilities, such as buckling and snapping, are crucial for advanced functionalities in metamaterials and devices.
• Current limitations exist in controlling postbuckling configurations and snapping transitions for expanded design possibilities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop general principles for controlling elastic instabilities in flexible beams.
• To investigate the effect of partial cuts (slits) on postbuckling behavior and enable programmable mechanical responses.

Main Methods:

• Introducing partial cuts (slits) into flexible beams under compression.
• Utilizing a truss model to analyze the interplay of geometric and slit-induced nonlinearities.
• Designing and fabricating multislit beams to achieve programmable behaviors.

Main Results:

• Slit-beams exhibit controlled buckling and snapping, leading to tristability.
• A truss model successfully explains the observed phenomena.
• Multislit beams demonstrate programmable behaviors including giant hysteresis, quadstability, and multistep snapping.

Conclusions:

• Partial cuts offer a general, simple strategy for precise control of elastic instabilities.
• This approach unlocks a vast design space for mechanical metamaterials with advanced memory and sequential capabilities.