Assur graphs, marginally jammed packings, and reconfigurable metamaterials

Abstract

Isostatic frames are mechanical networks that are simultaneously rigid and free of self-stress states, and is a powerful concept in understanding phase transitions in soft matter and designing of mechanical metamaterials. Here we analyze substructures of isostatic frames, by generalizing ``Assur graphs'' to the torus and examine them in physical systems. We show that the contact network of marginally jammed packings approach torus Assur graphs in the thermodynamic limit, and demostrate how Assur graphs offer a new design principle for mechanical metamaterials in which motion and stress can propagate in reconfigurable pathways, while rigidity of the entire structure is maintained.