An energy dissipation metamaterial based on Coulomb friction and vibration

Compared with traditional energy dissipation structures, negative stiffness metamaterials can repeatedly dissipate energy without incurring irreversible plastic deformation. The existing negative stiffness structures are generally multistable, and their energy dissipation mechanism is either through internal component vibration or friction. In this paper, a self-recoverable negative stiffness structure was proposed which can dissipate energy through both vibration and Coulomb friction. The structure consists of an external I-shaped structure and a buckle-like structure composed of a plug and cantilever beams inside. The proposed structure achieves monostable characteristics by utilizing the concept of self-contact. To investigate the mechanical properties, quasistatic loading-unloading experiments were performed and verified using finite element simulation. The energy dissipated in the proposed structure by vibration and friction was quantified theoretically. The influence of geometric parameters on energy dissipation was studied using simulation and analytical methods. This type of metamaterial has the potential to be employed in the production of multi-functional metamaterial structures such as deformable robots or reusable bumpers.