Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have developed a computational framework for designing 3D woven metamaterials that are soft, flexible, and programmable. Unlike traditional metamaterials, which rely on rigidity and lightweight structures, these woven lattices can be tuned fiber by fiber to stretch, bend, or fail in controlled ways, opening new possibilities for soft robotics, wearable devices, and flexible electronics.
Published in Nature Communications as “Design framework for programmable three-dimensional woven metamaterials,” the project is considered as the first framework to fully integrate design, simulation, and fabrication for soft, 3D woven metamaterials, enabling fiber‑level control and programmable mechanical behavior that was previously impractical. The work utilized MIT.nano facilities and included contributions from James Utama Surjadi, Bastien F. G. Aymon, and Ling Xu.
From Rigid Lattices to Soft, Programmable Materials
Metamaterials are engineered materials whose properties are defined by their internal structure rather than their composition and have traditionally emphasized stiffness and strength. Emerging engineering challenges, however, require compliance, flexibility, and tunability. The new MIT framework enables the creation of 3D woven structures composed of intertwined fibers that self-contact and entangle, producing unique, programmable behaviors.
“Until now, these complex 3D lattices have been designed manually, painstakingly, which limits the number of designs that anyone has tested,” explained Carlos Portela, the Robert N. Noyce Career Development Professor and associate professor of mechanical engineering. “We’ve been able to describe how these woven lattices work and use that to create a design tool for arbitrary woven lattices. With that design freedom, we’re able to design the way that a lattice changes shape as it stretches, how the fibers entangle and knot with each other, as well as how it tears when stretched to the limit.”
A Universal, Open-Source Design Tool
The framework features a graph-based design algorithm that converts user specifications into precise fiber layouts. Each woven unit cell can be graded and customized using parameters such as fiber radius and pitch. Users can simulate deformation, self-contact, and entanglement before printing, predicting how the material will stretch, bend, or fail.
“Because this framework allows these metamaterials to be tailored to be softer in one place and stiffer in another, or to change shape as they stretch, they can exhibit an exceptional range of behaviors that would be hard to design using conventional soft materials,” says Molly Carton, lead author of the study.
“The most exciting part was being able to tailor failure in these materials and design arbitrary combinations,” Portela added. “Based on the simulations, we were able to fabricate these spatially varying geometries and experiment on them at the microscale.”
Expanding Applications Across Engineering Fields
Beyond accelerating design, the framework broadens potential applications for woven metamaterials. These include wearable sensors that conform to skin, flexible electronic devices, aerospace and defense fabrics, and soft robotic components. By releasing open-source code, the MIT team encourages researchers to explore new patterns, optimize performance, and develop entirely new applications.
“In releasing this framework as a software tool, our hope is that other researchers will explore what’s possible using woven lattices and find new ways to use this design flexibility,” she says. “I’m looking forward to seeing what doors our work can open.”
MIT’s Framework Impact in 3D Printed Metamaterials
Before MIT’s advance, 3D printed metamaterials could achieve unusual properties through geometry, but designs were fixed, uniform, or manually optimized, limiting tunability and programmability. For example, hybrid auxetic lattices improved energy absorption, and acoustic metamaterials controlled noise frequencies, but both relied on static internal patterns. Other computational tools existed to explore mechanical metamaterial spaces using optimization or machine learning, yet they did not provide a fiber-level, print-ready workflow for designing complex, woven structures.
MIT’s framework removes these constraints by integrating design, simulation, and fabrication into a single tool, enabling fiber-by-fiber customization of woven lattices.
However, challenges remain. Simulating complex fiber arrangements can be computationally intensive, particularly for large or intricate lattices. Precision in fiber placement is critical, as small deviations during 3D printing may cause unexpected deformations or reduce mechanical performance. Material choice also influences outcomes: overly soft fibers can compromise load-bearing capacity, while very stiff fibers may introduce stress points prone to tearing. Scaling these designs for industrial production or high-throughput applications remains challenging, since replicating precise fiber placement and entanglement consistently is difficult.
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Featured image shows Image of a woven deformable metamaterial was taken with a scanning electron microscope. Image via MIT.
