High‐speed impacts from solid particles (i.e., sand or dust) cause serious damage to renewable energy systems and industrial infrastructure over time. This study investigates a new approach to reducing that damage by using viscoelastic Bézier‐lattice metamaterials as energy‐absorbing cores within sandwich‐like composite structures, mimicking natural damping cores. The lattices were designed and fabricated with curved, Bézier‐shaped elements at different curvature angles ( θ = 0°, 225°, 600°, and 960°) as the design variable controlling damping capacity and erosion resistance. Their viscoelastic behavior was evaluated through compressive creep testing as happening during erosion process. The results showed that as curvature increased, the lattices shifted from primarily supporting loads to actively absorbing and damping impact energy. To assess the viscoelasticity effect into erosion resistance, silica sand was blasted onto aluminum and glass substrates supported by these lattice cores. Higher θ values were found to enhance erosion resistance in brittle substrates, whereas for ductile substrates, moderate θ values are sufficient due to their lower sensitivity to θ without compromising structural stiffness. Overall, viscoelastic Bézier‐lattice metamaterials can act as effective bioinspired damping cores. Their geometry can be tuned and scaled, offering a promising pathway to extend service life of composite structures exposed to erosive environments.
Hernández-Peña et al. (2026) studied this question.