Abstract

Numerous living organisms, from plants to animals, have unique internal architecture that evolves during ontogeny. Unlike nature where morphogenesis occurs naturally via multiple actuation mechanisms (chemical, mechanical, electrical, thermal, etc.), synthetic systems require robust computational algorithms to evolve. This work proposes a novel computational morphogenesis process for designing random (i.e., non-periodic) composite materials with smooth, polydisperse Voronoi-type inclusions. These inclusions feature non-uniform intervoid ligament thicknesses and are randomly embedded within a base matrix phase. The resulting geometries, termed M-Voronoi (from mechanically grown), can achieve very low relative densities. This is achieved using a numerical process based on large-strain, nonlinear elastic void growth mechanics. Additionally, we introduce a novel remeshing technique capable of handling arbitrary orphan meshes composed of one or multiple phases. We show that the randomness of the M-Voronoi geometries and the variability in intervoid ligament thickness enhance the mechanical properties under small and large compressive strains.