Researchers at the University of Michigan and the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) have demonstrated how to 3D print tubular structures that block vibrations using their internal geometry. The study, published in Physical Review Applied, builds on decades of theory and computational work to create materials that passively prevent vibrations from traveling through them.
“That’s where the real novelty is. We have the realization: We can actually make these things,” said James McInerney, AFRL research associate. “We’re optimistic these can be applied for good purposes. In this case, it’s vibration isolation.”
The research, funded in part by DARPA and the Office of Naval Research, included contributions from Xiaoming Mao (U-M), Serife Tol (U-M), Othman Oudghiri-Idrissi (University of Texas), and Carson Willey and Abigail Juhl (AFRL).
Geometry, Not Chemistry, Drives Performance
While this work leverages modern 3D printing technology, it builds on historical foundations. James Clerk Maxwell, known for his contributions to electromagnetism and thermodynamics, also explored mechanics and developed principles for stable repeating structures. In the latter half of the 20th century, physicists discovered unusual behaviors at the edges of materials, giving rise to the field of topology, which continues to inform material design today.
Over recent years, McInerney and colleagues explored how these findings could be applied to vibration isolation. They developed a model and have now 3D printed the structures in nylon, demonstrating their designs in practice. The resulting kagome tubes, named after a Japanese basket-weaving pattern, resemble folded chain-link fences rolled into tubes with connected inner and outer layers.
“This is just the first step in realizing the potential of such structures,” McInerney said. The research also revealed a tradeoff: the better a structure is at suppressing vibrations, the less weight it can support, highlighting practical challenges and opportunities for future study.
“Because we have such new behaviors, we’re still uncovering not just the models, but the way that we would test them, the conclusions we would draw from the tests and how we would implement those conclusions into a design process,” he said. “I think those are the questions that honestly need to be answered before we start answering questions about applications.”
Advancing Material Design Through 3D Printing
The AFRL/U-M kagome tubes demonstrate how 3D printing can be used to engineer material properties, not just shapes, by using geometric design to block vibrations. Similarly, in July, researchers at the University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin) developed a method that mimics nature’s integration of soft and hard materials—such as bone cushioned by cartilage. By using different colors of light to switch between flexible and rigid properties, their approach enables the fabrication of multi-material objects in a single print, with applications in prosthetics, medical devices, stretchable electronics, and soft robotics.
Earlier, in 2020, researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) advanced 3D printing of gels and soft materials by leveraging electron and X-ray beams instead of conventional UV or visible light. These shorter-wavelength beams allow highly detailed structures at scales as small as 100 nanometers, offering unprecedented control over material properties.
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Image featured shows The 3D printed “kagome tube.” Photo via University of Michigan.
