MS12 - Modeling and simulation of cellular materials: from irregular foams to regular lattice structures

Keywords: Cellular materials; Foams, Lattice structures;  Honeycombs; Metamaterials

Organizers:
Lei Liu (1) – lei.liu@chalmers.se
Li Sun (2) – li.sun@ntu.edu.sg
Haiyang Yu (3) – haiyang.yu@angstrom.uu.se
Feng Jiang (4) – feng.jiang@northwestern.edu

Affiliations:
(1) Department of Industrial and Materials Science, Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden
(2) School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
(3) Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Uppsala University, Sweden
(4) Department of Physics and Astronomy, Northwestern University, USA


Abstract:
Many natural materials, e.g. woods, bones and sponges, exhibit remarkable multi-functionality while maintaining a low density. This appealing combination of properties originate from their intrinsic cellular structures, which can be characterized by an interconnected network of solid (thin) struts and/or plates, forming the edges and/or faces of cells. Inspired by natural cellular materials, foams have been early developed and widely utilized in engineering applications, e.g. load-bearing, energy absorption and thermal protection. Due to the complicated foaming process, foam microstructures are irregular and random.

Along with advances in manufacturing techniques such as additive manufacturing that allows for fabrication of geometrically complex designs, lattice structures have further emerged. In contrast to foams, lattice structures are formed by an array of unit cells, regular and ordered, leading to better properties in general. Moreover, because of the unique property of tailoring, lattice structures can even achieve unusual properties, e.g., negative refractive index and negative Poisson’s ratio. Nevertheless, mass production of lattice structures remains challenging.

Foams and lattice structures are both important cellular materials. To guide the cellular material design, it is essential to understand the microphysics as well as the structureproperty-performance relationships. Benefiting from developments of computational power, advanced modeling and simulation techniques provide a versatile tool for this purpose.

Foams and lattice structures share many common microstructural features and may largely be modeled in a similar manner. However, there seems a lack of interactions between the two communities nowadays. This minisymposium aims to bridge the researchers from the two communities, exchange ideas and initiate collaborations. We welcome contributions from all topics in the scope of modeling and simulation of cellular materials (including honeycombs and metamaterials). Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

  • Multi-scale and multi-physics modeling of cellular materials
  • Homogenization techniques connecting microscale and macroscale
  • Constitutive modeling of cellular materials
  • Application of data-driven modeling techniques on cellular materials
  • Modeling of structure-property relationships
  • Modeling of large-scale component performance
  • Modeling of unusual macroscale phenomena realized by metamaterials
  • Modeling of foam microstructures
  • Design and optimization of lattice structures and metamaterials
  • Manufacturing considerations and sensitivity to defects in lattice structures and metamaterials