Magnetic coupling transforms random snapping into ordered sequences in soft metamaterials

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Mechanical Engineering
• Physics

Background:

• Mechanical metamaterials exhibit multistep responses via sequential buckling instabilities.
• Uncontrolled imperfections often lead to random and unpredictable behavior in these systems.

Purpose of the Study:

• To reprogram sequential buckling instabilities in kirigami-inspired soft magnetic metamaterials.
• To achieve deterministic, multistep mechanical responses using magnetic interactions.

Main Methods:

• Harnessing intra- and interlayer magnetic interactions coupled with elasticity.
• Investigating single-layer and multilayer magnetic metamaterial assemblies.
• Analyzing force-displacement responses and hysteresis.

Main Results:

• Intralayer coupling in single-layer systems yields random snapping but nonlinear force-displacement responses with hysteresis.
• Interlayer magnetic interactions in multilayer systems induce chain-reaction propagation, leading to directional snapping.
• This magnetic control transforms random instabilities into robust, predictable behavior.

Conclusions:

• A paradigm for deterministic, multistep mechanical responses in soft magnetic metamaterials is established.
• The mechanism operates without the need for continuously applied fields.
• Potential applications include energy dissipation, waveguiding, reconfigurable soft robotics, and biomedical devices.