Collaborative Research: Electromechanics of Stretchable 3D-Woven Architected Nanocomposite Sensors

This research will develop a fundamental understanding of the multi-functional response of a new class of engineered materials: three-dimensional woven architected nano-composites. Built by using leading-edge additive manufacturing techniques with sub-micron resolution, these woven architected materials will be highly deformable and will provide electrical responses that change based on the amount of deformation sustained by the materials.

This coupled mechanical and electrical behavior endows these materials with deformation- and pressure-sensing capabilities, enabling their use as highly sensitive and tunable sensors. The fabrication, modeling, and experimental research will prepare this new class of materials for application in high-performance electronic skins - a key technology for next-generation soft robots, prostheses, and bio-electronics.

This research will also develop fundamental theoretical and computational tools that will enable prediction of electrical and mechanical properties of these materials. The research efforts will be complemented by (i) an educational outreach effort that will introduce mechanics and materials concepts to a broad general audience, (ii) enhancements in undergraduate curricula with novel information and concepts on multi-functional materials, and (iii) a mentoring program focusing on broadening underrepresented-community involvement in the mechanics of materials academic field.

This research will determine the material-structure-property relations of 3D-woven architected nano-composites to validate the hypothesis that printable nano-composites with tunable electrical properties such as resistivity or dielectric constant, combined with the complex nonlinear mechanical responses of 3D-woven architectures such as self-contact and entanglement, will provide a new paradigm for the design of high-performance electro-mechanical sensors. Combined experimental, computational, and analytical approaches include microscale 3D printing of functional nano-composites, in-situ microscale multi-axial mechanical testing, in-situ macroscale electromechanical characterization, nonlinear computational modeling and simulations, and a circuit-model-based analysis.

These approaches will be used to connect the material and structure of the architected nano-composites to the electromechanical performance of stretchable 3D architected nano-composite sensors.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.