Viscoelastic metastructures made with elastomeric polymers are recently suggested as solutions for shock mitigation and crash absorption. In these investigations, the mechanical properties are used as proxy indicators of capabilities to suppress energy transfer under such dynamic load conditions. Yet, recent high speed video studies revealed a startling disconnect between quasi-static and dynamic behavior in metastructures having internal beam networks due to the coupled local–global dynamics that are not triggered during quasi-static load cycles. This research undertakes an extensive high speed video data collection synchronized with force measurements to reveal the influences that govern transient shock mitigation properties in elastomeric metastructures. Despite an intuitive advantage of prolonging the collapse behavior through material design, it is conclusively found that unimodal collapse of the metastructure cross-section is the most effective mechanism to mitigate shock amplitude, prolong the duration of the transmitted force, and to reduce the impulse passed through the media. This research may specifically inspire the next generation of elastomeric, reusable shock damping materials.

最近提出了由弹性体聚合物制成的粘弹性元结构作为减震和碰撞吸收的解决方案。在这些研究中，机械性能被用作在这种动态负载条件下抑制能量传递的能力的替代指标。然而，最近的高速视频研究显示，由于在准静态载荷循环中未触发的局部-全局动力学耦合，在具有内部梁网络的元结构中准静态和动态行为之间出现了惊人的分离。这项研究与力测量同步进行了广泛的高速视频数据收集，以揭示控制弹性体元结构中瞬态冲击缓解特性的影响。尽管通过材料设计来延长塌陷行为具有直观优势，结论性地发现，单峰塌陷是减少冲击振幅，延长传递力的持续时间并减少通过介质的冲动的最有效机制。这项研究可能会特别启发下一代弹性体，可重复使用的减震材料。