PROGRAMMABLE MATTER AND RECONFIGURABLE STRUCTURES USING FIELD-CONTROLLED METAMATERIALS

Abstract

Even with swift progress in programmable metamaterials, few systems demonstrate real-time, multi-domain response to field manipulation outside. We inquire: Is it possible for a universal platform metamaterial to support tunable stiffness, shape morphing, and dynamic wave control with magnetic or electric fields? In order to investigate this, we synergize topology optimization and additive manufacturing to embed magnetorheological (MR) fluid lattices, piezoelectric metasurfaces, and digitally coded unit cells. Scalable prototypes are subjected to mechanical tests, electromagnetic beam steering experiments, and numerical simulations. Particularly to our MR-fluid microlattice shows more than 200% stiffness increase with sub-100 mT fields and rapid (~50 ms) actuation, many times that of conventional systems. Digitally encoded metasurfaces steer X-band beams by 45° without mechanical motion, a significant improvement over conventional programmable ideas. These findings are a huge breakthrough in mechanical and electromagnetic tunability. This human-led innovation paves the way for reconfigurable aerospace skins, adaptive structures, and reconfigurable compact antennas," matter with intent." A future advancement will be to incorporate sensing and AI-based control to achieve autonomous, self-optimizing, field-reconfigurable structures.