Additive Manufacturing of Composite Foam Metamaterial Springs for Vibration Isolation

Abstract

This research introduces a novel approach for reducing the vibrations experienced by passengers in vehicles using metamaterials embedded in polyurethane foam to improve the existing vibration isolation capacity of car seats. An exploration of quasi‐zero and negative stiffness metamaterials has been conducted to develop metamaterial springs that exhibit a region of high‐static and low‐dynamic stiffness to achieve vibration isolation. Metamaterials were developed using low‐cost open‐source additive manufacturing methods and thermoplastic polyurethane filament. This investigation followed a process of determining the geometric, material, and systemic design requirements, to identify the quasi‐zero and negative stiffness force‐displacement regions. Small‐scale models of a car seat were developed by embedding the designed metamaterials into different grades of polyurethane foam and completing static and dynamic testing. The results demonstrated practical applications for implementing metamaterial springs into polyurethane foam to enhance vibration isolation under dynamic loading. The developed material library, and the key geometric variables in the metamaterial design allow for application specific solutions where the selection of the appropriate metamaterial and foam combination can be tailored to suit the system requirements.This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

High strength induced wide band gap formations in additively manufactured cubic metamaterial

“…Additive manufacturing is a groundbreaking manufacturing technology that has found extensive applications in the research and production of metamaterials. In the realm of metamaterials, this technique empowers designers to exert precise control over microstructures and achieve tailored performance optimization [24][25][26]. Through the utilization of multi-material and multi-level stacking techniques, additive manufacturing not only enhances the strength [27,28], toughness [29,30], and deformation [31,32] of metamaterials but also facilitates continuous exploration into novel metamaterials for vibration and noise reduction [33,34].…”