Modeling of Bio-Inspired, Snapping Composite Shells With Magnetically Aligned Reinforcements

Materials capable of exhibiting inherent morphing are rare and typically reliant on nanometric chemical properties. The resulting shape adaptability is thus slow and limited to specific environmental conditions. In contrast, natural composites, such as those found in carnivorous plants, have evolved hierarchical architectures displaying remarkably fast adaptation upon environmental stimuli. These biological materials have inspired the fabrication of snapping composite shells through the careful design of the internal microstructure of synthetic materials by magnetic alignment of reinforcements. The ability to accurately model such programmable materials using finite element analysis (FEA) is necessary to facilitate the design optimization of resulting structures. Using similar material parameters as explored in previous experimental studies, we employ nonlinear FEA to investigate the effects of introducing curvilinear spatially distributed micro-reinforcements on the deformation of a shell with bioinspired geometry. The FEA model is subject to a preliminary experimental validation. Comparison to a conventional [0/90] composite layup and simplified models demonstrates the advantages of magnetically aligned reinforcements to achieve complex, snapping morphing structures with tailored characteristics.