New 3D metamaterials can be used as lightweight building materials for houses or components for
A new approach to the production of metamaterials is based on the principles of kirigami. Kirigami is a type of origami in which paper is not only folded, but also cut.
Kirigami uses two-dimensional materials such aslike paper, but the authors of the new work used three-dimensional ones that are cut into connected cubes. Depending on how the cubes are connected to each other, these building blocks can be folded into more than 300 thousand different structures.
During the experiment, the researchers created moredozens of reconfigurable building blocks: each made of eight connected paper cubes that can be remade into eight different shapes.
Depending on the direction of solid wallscube, the open sides of the block and its position in the whole structure, it will behave differently. This allows the user to customize the mechanical properties of each block.
For example, one building block can be folded into a structure that can be easily compressed, or, conversely, given a shape that can withstand significant stress.
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