title: Tailored Buckling Microlattices as Reusable Light-Weight Shock Absorbers.
abstract: Structures and materials absorbing mechanical (shock) energy commonly exploit either viscoelasticity or destructive modifications. Based on a class of uniaxial light-weight geometrically nonlinear mechanical microlattices and using buckling of inner elements, either a sequence of snap-ins followed by irreversible hysteretic - yet repeatable - self-recovery or multistability is achieved, enabling programmable behavior. Proof-of-principle experiments on three-dimensional polymer microstructures are presented.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Applied Physics, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), 76128, Karlsruhe, Germany.
authors.forename: Tobias
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Frenzel
authors.affiliation: Institute for Applied Materials, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), 76128, Karlsruhe, Germany.|Fraunhofer Institute for Mechanics of Materials IWM, 79108, Freiburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Claudio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Findeisen
authors.affiliation: Institute of Applied Physics, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), 76128, Karlsruhe, Germany.
authors.forename: Muamer
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kadic
authors.affiliation: Institute for Applied Materials, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), 76128, Karlsruhe, Germany.|Fraunhofer Institute for Mechanics of Materials IWM, 79108, Freiburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gumbsch
authors.affiliation: Institute of Applied Physics, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), 76128, Karlsruhe, Germany.|Institute of Nanotechnology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), 76128, Karlsruhe, Germany.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wegener
keywords: buckling; instabilities; metamaterials; microlattices; shock absorbers