W. Miller

Negative linear compressibility in common materials

Negative linear compressibility (NLC) is still considered an exotic property, only observed in a few obscure crystals. The vast majority of materials compress axially in all directions when loaded in hydrostatic compression. However, a few materials have been observed which expand in one or two directions under hydrostatic compression. At present, the list of materials demonstrating this unusual behaviour is confined to a small number of relatively rare crystal phases, biological materials, and designed structures, and the lack of widespread availability hinders promising technological applications. Using improved representations of elastic properties, this study revisits existing databases of elastic constants and identifies several crystals missed by previous reviews. More importantly, several common materials—drawn polymers, certain types of paper and wood, and carbon fibre laminates—are found to display NLC. We show that NLC in these materials originates from the misalignment of polymers/fibres. Using a beam model, we propose that maximum NLC is obtained for misalignment of 26°. The existence of such widely available materials increases significantly the prospects for applications of NLC.

Sensing and actuation of smart chiral honeycombs

A chiral honeycomb configuration is developed with embedded piezosensors and actuators for smart sandwich panel applications. The chiral honeycomb concept is made of repeating units of cylinders and plates (ligaments), featuring an in-plane negative Poissons ratio. Rapid Prototyping vacuum-cast and FDM (Fusion Deposition Moulding) techniques are developed to embed micro fibres composites to be used for potential structural health monitoring (SHM) applications, and microwave absorption screens for electromagnetic compatibility. Finite Element models are also developed to prototype and simulate the response, sensing and actuation capability of the honeycombs for design purposes. Dynamic tests using scanning laser vibrometers and acoustic wave propagation are carried out to assess the feasibility of the concept.

Damping capacity in shape memory alloy honeycomb structures

SMA honeycombs have been recently developed by several Authors [1, 2] as innovative cellular structures with selfhealing capability following mechanical indentation, unusual deformation (negative Poissons ratio [3]), and possible enhanced damping capacity due to the natural vibration dissipation characteristics of SMAs under pseudoelastic and superelastic regime. In this work we describe the nonlinear damping effects of novel shape memory alloy honeycomb assemblies subjected to combine mechanical sinusoidal and thermal loading. The SMA honeycomb structures made with Ni48Ti46Cu6 are designed with single and two-phase polymeric components (epoxy), to enhance the damping characteristics of the base SMA for broadband frequency vibration.