Multistability by Design in Complex Triangular Mechanical Metamaterials

Abstract

We introduce frustrated triangular networks that mix two different beam thicknesses. The two thicknesses separate the energetic costs of second-order buckling and angular deformation into four competing contributions. Using scaling arguments and mapping to an effective Ising description, we construct the system's phase diagram in terms of its dimensionless geometric parameters. Selected beam arrangements exhibit local bistability: hexagonal motifs switch independently between opposite twisting states, while linear motifs support independently switchable beam states. In both cases, the number of mechanically stable configurations grows exponentially with system size. Experiments on fabricated silicone metamaterials confirm the predicted bistability and local switching. More generally, the allowed beam arrangements map onto rhombus tilings, producing a large combinatorial space of architectures. The system thus combines multiplicity in both architecture and stable deformation states, establishing beam-thickness patterning as a route for programming frustration, multistability, and extensive degeneracy in triangular mechanical metamaterials.