Fig. 1: Structural phase transitions in a mechanical metamaterial lead to static soliton formation.
From: Programmable and robust static topological solitons in mechanical metamaterials
a A rubber metamaterial patterned with a regular array of elliptic holes. b The geometric parameters of the unit cell, here characterized by elliptical-axes \({a}_{1}={a}_{2}=\) 3 mm and \({b}_{1}=4{b}_{2}=\) 6 mm, and by neck thickness \(t=\) 1.5 mm. c Static solitons were activated by compression between two lubricated, parallel plates. d, e Uniform compression induces symmetry breaking, with two distinct buckling states A and B emerging in the experimental (d) and numerical (e) models. Colors in e illustrate the simulated von Mises stress field in the deformed configuration. Static periodic solitons (alternating kinks and antikinks) are localized at the domain walls between two uniform polarization states.
