A nanolattice-plate hybrid structure to achieve a nearly linear relation between stiffness/strength and density

A great deal of effort has been made on the design and fabrication of materials or structures that simultaneously possess ultra-high stiffness, ultra-high strength, and yet ultra-low density. Here, using finite element simulations, we design hybrid structures comprising a space-filling nanolattice and stretching-dominated plates and study how the stiffness, failure strength and failure mode of such hybrid structures depend on the geometrical parameters of the nanolattice. It is found that the stiffness, failure strength and failure mode of these hybrid structures can be tuned by changing the geometrical parameters. In particular, we show that a nearly linear scaling can be achieved between the stiffness/failure strength and the density if intrinsic material failure occurs. Hence, such hybrid structures are able to expand the design space of ultra-light and strong materials for wide structural applications. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd.