MetamaterialFinder: A software framework for discovering and analyzing mechanical metamaterials based on simple closed curves

Mechanical metamaterials have gained a lot of research interest over the last years due to their unusual mechanical properties and potential use for structural applications. However, the design and analysis of mechanical metamaterials remains challenging and time-consuming. Herein, we present a software framework for automated generation, finite element modeling and analysis of extruded mechanical metamaterials based on simple closed curves. By generalizing extruded unit cells with pores defined by simple closed curves, a wide variety of existing and novel metamaterials can be created and analyzed. Each pore can either be empty or filled with one or more materials, resulting in single- or multi-material metamaterials. Since part of the mechanical response of a metamaterial is defined by the geometric parameters of a unit cell, parameter studies are directly integrated into the framework. Examples of well-established mechanical metamaterials were used as benchmark structures and compared to their analytical solutions. We also demonstrate how generalized curves can further improve the mechanical properties of these structures, for example the load bearing capabilities and range of Poisson's ratios. Furthermore, newly developed single- and multi-material designs of mechanical metamaterials with tunable Poisson's ratio are presented and analyzed with the proposed framework. The framework is implemented in Python, executed via ABAQUS and allows for unit-cell based homogenization and full-size 2D and 3D simulations. The scripts are made open source and publicly available.