Research / Mechanical metamaterials
Mechanical metamaterials
Materials whose behaviour comes from architecture rather than composition: lattices, cut and folded sheets, foams, and natural architected materials such as bone.
In mechanical metamaterials, behaviour is governed by geometry rather than chemistry. That makes it possible to tune stiffness, strength and energy dissipation separately, which is hard to do with conventional materials.
The architectures we study take many forms: lattices, thin sheets with cuts and folds inspired by kirigami, auxetic foams, and natural architected materials. Bone is one example, and together with Oliver Duncan (Manchester Metropolitan University) we are looking at how trabecular bone fails.
A common thread is fracture, especially when the material is confined, as in interfaces and bonding layers, and the role of disorder. Periodic architectures are better understood than disordered ones, but even for them many questions about fracture remain open. Disordered architectures, meanwhile, are often more resilient. We want to understand both well enough to use them in design. To do so we combine experiments, theory and data-driven models with ideas from statistical physics and topology.
Topics
- Fracture of lattices and architected solids
- Kirigami-inspired cut and folded sheets
- Auxetic foams and composites
- Bio-inspired and biological architectures, including bone
- Disorder and stochastic architectures
- Confined metamaterials and micropolar models
- Test methods for lattice and thin-sheet materials
- Data-driven and topological design
Crossroads
With fibre & laminated composites →
Architecture can be built into laminates themselves. Kirigami-inspired cuts and patterned interlayers change how delamination grows, while 3D-printed continuous-fibre lattices combine composite constituents with architected geometry.
- 2026P. Hu, M.K. BudzikDesigned intermittency in interlaminar fracture via kirigami-induced crack-front widening, Comp. Sci. Technol. 279, 111611 (2026).
- 2024B.U. Bokharaie, R. Aghababaei, M.A. Dias, M.K. BudzikFailure of 3D-Printed Composite Continuous Carbon Fiber Hexagonal Frames, Comp. Part B 275, 111307 (2024).
- 2024P. Hu, M.A. Dias, M.K. BudzikGeometric tunability of delamination resistance, Comp. Part B 287, 111839 (2024).
With adhesive bonding →
Confined metamaterials can act as bonding layers (metadhesives), and geometric surface patterns influence both wetting and fracture of bonded joints.
- 2025P. Hu, S. Li, M.K. BudzikDecoupling fracture energy from crack area via surface patterning, Surf. Interfaces 62, 106066 (2025).
- 2021A.E.F. Athanasiadis, M.A. Dias, M.K. BudzikCan confined mechanical metamaterials replace adhesives?, Ext. Mech. Lett. 48, 101411 (2021).
- 2020S. Heide-Jørgensen, M.K. Budzik, K.T. TurnerMechanics and fracture of structured pillar interfaces, J. Mech. Phys. Solids 137, 103825 (2020).
A new platform for fatigue testing and fatigue-driven materials design, funded by the Carlsberg Foundation, supports work across composites, bonded joints and architected materials.
Related projects
- Ordo ab Chao: Scaling in fracture of complex materialsVILLUM Experiment
- Rupture of architected materialsVILLUM Experiment
- Failure mechanisms in metastatic trabecular bone: a micromechanical approachManchester Metropolitan University (with Oliver Duncan)
- Platform for fatigue testing and fatigue-driven materials designCarlsberg Foundation
Key papers
- 2026M.K. Budzik, O. Duncan, M.A. Dias, L. Peel, K. Alderson, F. ScarpaAuxetic fibre-polymer composites in Roadmap on Mechanical Metamaterials (ed. O. Duncan, M.A. Dias, A. Alderson), revision, Smart Materials and Structures, IOP Science, 16.05.2025. revision
- 2026S. Fulco, P.K. Purohit, M.K. Budzik, K.T. TurnerFracture of disordered and stochastic lattice materials, Proc. R. Soc. A (accepted 21.04.2026) (preprint available through arXiv:2508.21187). accepted
- 2025S. Fulco, H. Xiao, M.K. Budzik, D.J. Durian, K.T. TurnerDisorder enhances the fracture toughness of 2D mechanical metamaterials, PNAS Nexus 4(2), pgaf023 (2025).
- 2025A.E.F. Athanasiadis, O. Duncan, M.K. Budzik, M.A. DiasToughness of Confined Auxetic Foams, Adv. Eng. Mater. 2500626 (2025).
- 2025A. Taylor, G. Saurya Vankayalapati, M.K. Budzik, K.T. TurnerHinged Rigid Beam fracture specimen for characterization of lattice and thin-sheet materials, Exp. Mech. 65, 1375–1386 (2025) - article featured on the cover.
- 2024A.E.F. Athanasiadis, M.K. Budzik, D. Fernando, M.A. DiasOn Micropolar Elastic Foundations, Eur. J. Mech. A., 105277 (2024).
Related
Fibre & laminated composites
Fibre-reinforced and laminated materials: how they fail, how long they last, and how to design and manufacture them across scales.
Explore →Adhesive bonding
Adhesion from surface to structure: how adhesives wet, cure and age, how surface chemistry and geometry control a bond, and how joints perform and fail.
Explore →Architected interfaces
Putting architecture into the interface itself: geometry that guides cracks, separates strength from toughness, and lets bonded structures be taken apart.
Explore →