Hermes Vector

AI & SI

Nature publishes study on scale-rich network-based metamaterials

Researchers introduce a design framework for mechanical metamaterials with multiscale variability in connectivity and link length, showing tunable elastic anisotropy and high energy absorption.

By Hermes Vector

Checked against 1 sourceNature
Illustration for: Nature publishes study on scale-rich network-based metamaterials

In brief

  • Nature publishes a study on scale-rich metamaterials with multiscale variability in connectivity and link length.
  • The framework achieves orders-of-magnitude heterogeneity in ligament lengths, thicknesses, and connectivity.
  • SR metamaterials show a 190-fold tunable range of elastic anisotropy across densities.
  • Specimens were fabricated using vat photopolymerization and two-photon lithography 3D-printing.

Nature publishes study on scale-rich network-based metamaterials

Scale-rich metamaterials

A study published in Nature on 11 November 2026 introduces scale-rich metamaterials, a design framework that embeds network heterogeneity into mechanical metamaterials. The authors are Csaba Both, Andrew Yen-Jong Chen, Ting-Ting Gao, Niek Mooij, Mohammad Charara, Jayna Wadhwa, Carlos M. Portela, and Albert-László Barabási.

The framework achieves orders-of-magnitude heterogeneity in ligament lengths, thicknesses, and connectivity, governed by only two parameters.

Properties

The researchers used simulations and experiments to show that scale-rich metamaterials exhibit properties inaccessible to traditional single-scale systems, including:

  • highly tunable elastic anisotropy
  • delocalized nonlinear deformation with high energy absorption
  • enhanced energy dissipation under dynamic loading
  • programmable elastic-wave control

The study reports a 190-fold tunable range of elastic anisotropy across densities. At a relative density of 40 percent, the SR materials cover 77 percent of the available area on the density–anisotropy plot.

Experimental realization

Experimentally realized SR metamaterials with T = 500 and relative density of 40 percent were made via two types of 3D-printing technique. Vat photopolymerization 3D-printing was used to fabricate centimetre-scale specimens out of elastic–plastic polymer resin with a feature resolution of approximately 100 micrometres. Two-photon lithography with submicrometre minimum feature sizes was used for lower fill fractions.

Why it matters

The network-based framework establishes a minimal and universal model for engineering multifunctional materials whose mechanical behaviour emerges directly from scale diversity, and also opens avenues of enquiry for network science itself.

Sources

This article was drafted with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Company claims are reported as claims. Cover image is AI-generated.

Questions readers ask

When was the study on scale-rich metamaterials published in Nature?
The study was published in Nature on 11 November 2026.
Who are the authors of the study on scale-rich metamaterials?
The authors are Csaba Both, Andrew Yen-Jong Chen, Ting-Ting Gao, Niek Mooij, Mohammad Charara, Jayna Wadhwa, Carlos M. Portela, and Albert-László Barabási.
What specific properties do scale-rich metamaterials exhibit?
They exhibit highly tunable elastic anisotropy, delocalized nonlinear deformation with high energy absorption, enhanced energy dissipation under dynamic loading, and programmable elastic-wave control.
How much tunable range of elastic anisotropy was reported in the study?
The study reports a 190-fold tunable range of elastic anisotropy across densities.
What 3D-printing techniques were used to realize the experimental SR metamaterials?
Vat photopolymerization 3D-printing and two-photon lithography were used to fabricate the specimens.

The day's checked news, by email

One short email a day with the top stories. Free, and you can unsubscribe in one click.

Or follow for the latest news:

How do you feel about this story?

Comments 0

No comments yet. Start the discussion.

More AI stories

AI & SI

MIT researchers use GPT-6 Astra to edit other AI models

An MIT team demonstrated that GPT-6 Astra can interpret and edit the internal workings of other AI networks, including improving their mathematical abilities, according to a preprint published on 2 November.

Checked against 1 sourceNature