3D printed breakthrough for next-generation vehicle crash protection

A collaborative research team from the University of Glasgow, the Polytechnic University of Marche, the University of L’Aquila and Italy’s National Institute for Nuclear Physics has developed a new class of 3D-printed metamaterials that could redefine how vehicles manage impact energy

Published in Advanced Materials, the work introduces adaptive twisting metamaterials - architected steel structures whose mechanical response can be tuned to different crash scenarios without electronics, hydraulics, or active controls.