Title:

Evaluating Auxetic Metamaterial Structures in Nitinol and Conventional Alloys for High-Impact Applications

This project explores the use of auxetic structures in a variety of alloys for high impact applications. The current use of ceramics and conventional alloys in military armor has proven itself effective but wasteful. This is where the idea of creating a nitinol auxetic structure arose due to its reusability and energy absorbance. Nitinol is a nickel-titanium alloy that once deformed can return to its original shape when heat is applied. Auxetic structures are man-made designs that have inorganic properties which allow it to shrink horizontally when compressed vertically. To make the auxetic structures, thin plates of metal were manufactured using abrasive waterjet cutting techniques and then assembled into shape. For the low-impact testing, a two-inch cube of the nitinol structure was able to withstand a compression load of 1.8 kN with a slight increase then decrease in strength over four trials. Between attempts, the nitinol was heated and managed to return to its initial shape for retesting. For the high-impact test, the aluminum and nitinol structures appeared to react similarly against varying calibers with the nitinol having a better energy absorbance and ability to reshape. In all, a more refined high-impact testing technique is required for future quantitative results.

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