Thermally induced phase transforming cellular lattice driven by bimetal beams

Abstract

Phase Transforming Cellular Material (PXCM) exhibits transformation by loading and maintains the deformed shape even after unloading after compression and restores the original shape by deforming in the opposite direction. Conventional PXCM needs to be stressed reversely to restore its original shape. Bimetals, i.e., clad sheets of metals with large differences in the coefficient of thermal expansion, can spontaneously bend in response to temperature changes because of thermal stress. In this study, we designed a lattice structure that not only deforms when a compressive/tensile load is applied but also changes its shape by heating/cooling by using bimetal for the curved beam of PXCM. A newly created PXCM is named thermally induced PXCM. The TI-PXCM exhibited a large recovery strain of 20% or more with a temperature hysteresis of 302 K in the temperature range of − 190 to 200 °C. Graphical abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.].