Large recoverable elastic energy in chiral metamaterials via twist buckling

Xin Fang (), Dianlong Yu, Jihong Wen, Yifan Dai, Matthew R. Begley, Huajian Gao and Peter Gumbsch ()
Additional contact information
Xin Fang: National University of Defense Technology
Dianlong Yu: National University of Defense Technology
Jihong Wen: National University of Defense Technology
Yifan Dai: National University of Defense Technology
Matthew R. Begley: University of California, Santa Barbara
Huajian Gao: Tsinghua University
Peter Gumbsch: Karlsruhe Institute of Technology

Nature, 2025, vol. 639, issue 8055, 639-645

Abstract: Abstract Mechanical metamaterials with high recoverable elastic energy density, which we refer to as high-enthalpy elastic metamaterials, can offer many enhanced properties, including efficient mechanical energy storage1,2, load-bearing capability, impact resistance and motion agility. These qualities make them ideal for lightweight, miniaturized and multi-functional structures3–8. However, achieving high enthalpy is challenging, as it requires combining conflicting properties: high stiffness, high strength and large recoverable strain9–11. Here, to address this challenge, we construct high-enthalpy elastic metamaterials from freely rotatable chiral metacells. Compared with existing non-chiral lattices, the non-optimized chiral metamaterials simultaneously maintain high stiffness, sustain larger recoverable strain, offer a wider buckling plateau, improve the buckling strength by 5–10 times, enhance enthalpy by 2–160 times and increase energy per mass by 2–32 times. These improvements arise from torsional buckling deformation that is triggered by chirality and is absent in conventional metamaterials. This deformation mode stores considerable additional energy while having a minimal impact on peak stresses that define material failure. Our findings identify a mechanism and provide insight into the design of metamaterials and structures with high mechanical energy storage capacity, a fundamental and general problem of broad engineering interest.

Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-08658-z Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:nature:v:639:y:2025:i:8055:d:10.1038_s41586-025-08658-z

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-08658-z

Access Statistics for this article

Nature is currently edited by Magdalena Skipper

More articles in Nature from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().