David Schwarz

Project

Encapsulated Chemistries in Rationally Designed Metamaterials for Advanced Multi-Functionalities on Demand
The aim of my research is to embed chemical-filled capsules in mechanical metamaterials. Under specific mechanical stimuli, the metamaterial will fail in a targeted way, releasing the encapsulated chemicals. Subsequently, new functionalities will be enabled, such as conditional fissure closure, abscission, or visualisation of the mechanical loading history. This can increase longevity or enable adaptivity in novel materials.

Project outcomes

My project’s aim shifted towards deformation-driven responses engineered into mechanical metamaterials. I focused on geometry-, composition-, and combined geometry–composition–driven responses to deformation. The main outcomes are:

• Through simulations and experiments, I assessed the nonlinear switching of Poisson’s ratio during compression as a function of unit cell parameters. This work provides a framework for selecting unit cell geometries of mechanical metamaterials to embed a targeted mechanical response.
• For a soft-matrix microcapsule composite, I established the transient relationship between self-reporting brightness and the remaining mechanical properties during tensile loading.
• In collaboration with Johan Liotier, I developed a 3D-printed metamaterial capable of training. Upon compression, the metamaterial activates UV irradiation, increasing its stiffness. After repeated cycles, it can be trained to resist compression without further stiffening.

Together, these works advance mechanical metamaterials towards improved design (first work), tailored mechanical properties combined with self-reporting functionality (second work), and 3D printability with tunable stiffness (third work).

First supervisor

Dr. Viacheslav Slesarenko

Publications in livMatS

• Light Induced Training of 3D Printed Mechanical Metamaterials*
  Schwarz, D., Liotier, J., Slesarenko, V., & Rühe, J. (2025). Light Induced Training of 3D Printed Mechanical Metamaterials. Advanced Materials Technologies, 10(23), e01416. https://doi.org/10.1002/admt.202501416
• Correlating fluorescence and residual stiffness in self-reporting microcapsule composites with an intact soft matrix*
  Schwarz, D., & Slesarenko, V. (2025). Correlating fluorescence and residual stiffness in self-reporting microcapsule composites with an intact soft matrix. Composites Part C: Open Access, 17, 100586. doi: 10.1016/j.jcomc.2025.100586
• Exploiting self-contact in mechanical metamaterials for new discrete functionalities*
  Schwarz, D., Felsch, G., Tauber, F., Schiller, S., & Slesarenko, V. (2023). Exploiting self-contact in mechanical metamaterials for new discrete functionalities. Materials & Design, 112468. doi: 10.1016/j.matdes.2023.112468
• Controlling auxeticity in curved-beam metamaterials via a deep generative model
  Felsch, G., Ghavidelnia, N., Schwarz, D., & Slesarenko, V. (2023). Controlling auxeticity in curved-beam metamaterials via a deep generative model. Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering, 410, 116032. doi: 10.1016/j.cma.2023.116032