Self-assembling material pops into 3D

Summary by Krater

Steve Mould explores bistable auxetic metamaterials, which expand in multiple directions when stretched and can be designed into stable 3D shapes like domes.

From the video

Answers: What are bistable auxetic metamaterials and how do they work?

• bistable auxetic metamaterials
• Poisson's ratio
• geometric tessellations
• strain energy graphs
• deployable structures

What it concludes

• Auxetic materials expand in the transverse direction when stretched, having a negative Poisson's ratio.
• Bistable auxetic metamaterials can be tuned so that their deployed state takes on complex 3D shapes like domes.
• Maximizing the depth of the energy valley between stable states makes it harder for the structure to collapse back to its flat state.