This symposium addresses emerging topics connected to 3D-architectured materials, such as metamaterials or 4D materials. Such materials are artificially structured composite materials engineered to respond and to manipulate physical phenomena and whose properties derive from their constituent materials’ inherent properties as well as from their geometrical arrangement. They have the potential to fundamentally change materials science for being able to achieve performance and benefits beyond those feasible with conventional materials. In contrast to classical materials, properties are determined by their mesoscopic topology instead of the electronic structure of the base material.

Many publications already show how local structuring or mechanical mechanisms (e.g. buckling beams, torsional hinges) or phase changes can enable e.g. bistability, auxicity or ultrahigh damping properties. Depending on the external loading conditions, the metamaterial can e.g. transform between topological states to reduce system enthalpy. Fundamentally, these materials allow decoupling of properties from disparate physical property space, e.g. mechanical from chemical properties: metamaterials made either from ceramic or metal or even smart materials can have the same elastic modulus as well as Poisson’s ratio while simultaneously being ultralight. Additionally, novel/unusual mechanisms as well as their interaction of different mechanisms, hierarchical concepts and the usage of gradients in metamaterials shall be reviewed. At last, the symposium aims to determine how the interaction of mechanisms can be used to enable adaptability to different loading conditions, so that the material reacts in a predetermined way e.g. to an external force. Understanding such predetermined behavior might lead to the possibility to program materials and introduce system functions. Such programmable materials might then be used to replace simple technological systems based on sensor, processor, actuator, and structural or mechanical parts in the future. The symposium will bring in some of the most renowned researchers from interdisciplinary backgrounds to review the different aspects connected to such inspiring materials.

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