Elastic metamaterials have promising applications in wave control and vibration isolation, due to their extraordinary characteristics, e.g., negative Poisson ratio, band gaps, effective negative mass density and effective negative modulus. How to develop new functional metamaterials using a special structure has always been a hot topic in this field. In this study, a three-dimensional (3D) star structure is designed to construct metamaterials with both negative static and dynamic properties. The results show that the 3D star structure formed a wide band gap at lower frequency and had a negative Poisson’s ratio. Different from conventional acoustic metamaterials, the main physical mechanism behind the low-frequency band gap of the 3D star structure is the resonance mode formed by the bending deformation of each rib plate, which made it easier to achieve effective isolation of low-frequency elastic waves with a low mass density. In addition, many structural parameters of the 3D star structure can be modulated to effectively adjust the band gap frequency by changing the angle between the concave nodes and aspect ratio. This study provides a new way to design the 3D acoustic metamaterials and develop the lightweight vibration isolation devices.

Elastomer compositions containing various particulate fillers can be formulated according to the specific functions required of them. Stress softening—which is also known as the Mullins effect—occurs during high loading and unloading paths in certain supramolecular elastomer materials. Previous experiments have revealed that the load–displacement response differs according to the filler used, demonstrating an unusual model of correspondence between the constitutive materials. Using a spherical indentation method and numerical simulation, we investigated the Mullins effect on polyurethane (PU) compositions subjected to cyclic uniaxial compressive load. The PU compositions comprised rigid particulate fillers (i.e., nano-silica and carbon black). The neo-Hooke model and the Ogden–Roxburgh Mullins model were used to describe the nonlinear deformation behavior of the soft materials. Based on finite element methods and parameter optimization, the load–displacement curves of various filled PUs were analyzed and fitted, enabling constitutive parameter prediction and inverse modeling. Hence, correspondence relationships between material components and constitutive parameters were established. Such relationships are instructive for the preparation of materials with specific properties. The method described herein is a more quantitative approach to the formulation of elastomer compositions comprising particulate fillers.

Soft materials such as biological tissues are prone to deformation and generate different stable structures under external stimulation. This property is widely used to create tunable patterns, and the tuning of the wrinkling patterns can be applied to the control of elastic waves. In this paper, the wrinkling modes of film/substrate systems with different geometric dimensions and material parameters were studied. It is verified by numerical simulation that the elastic wave band gaps corresponding to the two wrinkling modes can be effectively superposed in one system, and the experimental samples with two wrinkling modes coexisting in one system were prepared by parameter optimization and a moisture-curing process. A vibration test showed that the hybrid system could effectively suppress the propagation of elastic waves. Combined with engineering needs, the wrinkling system under different loading conditions was studied, which provides a design guide for widening and regulating the elastic wave band gap.