Auxetic Cellular Materials - a Review

Auxetic cellular materials are modern materials which have some unique and superior mechanical properties. As a consequence of the structural deformation of their internal cellular structure they exhibit a negative Poisson's ratio, i.e. they significantly increase in volume when stretched and vice versa. The effect of negative Poisson's ratio is useful in many applications to enhance certain physical properties such as the density, stiffness, fracture toughness, energy absorption and damping. These properties can be further tailored by using variable cell geometry and density distribution, which can be achieved with functionally graded porosity of auxetic materials. This review paper provides the state-of-the-art overview of the auxetic materials, their development, most common geometries, fabrication methods, mechanical properties, applications and further possibilities for their development.