Digital strategies for structured and architected materials design

Designing materials with tailored structural or functional properties is a fundamental goal of materials science and engineering. A vast research activity is currently devoted to achieving metamaterials with superior properties and optimized functionalities by carefully fine tuning both the microstructure and geometry of the material. Here, we discuss the impact of digital technologies in this research field by providing fast and cost effective tools to explore a large array of possibilities for materials and metamaterials. We report on recent progress obtained by combining numerical simulations, optimization techniques, artificial intelligence, and additive manufacturing methods and highlight promising research lines. The exploration of the space of possible material microstructures and geometries is reminiscent of the process of biological evolution in which traits are explored and selected according to their fitness. Biomimetic materials have long profited from adapting features of biological systems to the design of new materials and structures. Combining biomimetic approaches with digital simulation and optimization and with high throughput fabrication and characterization techniques may provide a step change in the evolutionary development of new materials.