JAEGER LAB

This project is about a 3D-printed mechanical metamaterial with gear shaped sub-units tied together by an overlayed elastic lattice. To date, the properties of metamaterials are typically achieved by detailed design of the geometrical arrangement of the subunits and their local connections. Instead, we explore how targeted properties can be achieved instead through the repeated application of external stimuli to the material. Upon a specific boundary strain, the material forms a 3D load-bearing shell, so we are training in Gaussian Curvature. This deformation out of the plane happens because of the energy costs associated with the competing interactions between the particles (repulsive) and the elastic lattice (attractive).