title: Ultralight fractal structures from hollow tubes.
abstract: A fractal design is shown to be highly efficient both as a load bearing structure and as a general metamaterial. Through changing the hierarchical order of the structure, the scaling of material required for stability against loading can be manipulated. We show that the transition from solid to hollow beams changes the scaling in a manner analogous to increasing the hierarchical order by one. An example second order solid beam frame is constructed using rapid prototyping techniques. The optimal hierarchical order of the structure is found for different values of loading. Possible fabrication methods and applications are then discussed.
authors.affiliation: School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rayneau-Kirkhope
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Mao
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Farr