MetaWrap: A CAD Tool for Metamaterial Lattice Wrapping at Scale

MetaWrap is a general-purpose software tool that uses CAD-compatible solid models as inputs and outputs, and that can wrap any planar periodic structure over any surface while preserving the electromagnetic performance of the unit cells. This technology is critical for next-generation airborne platforms that make extensive use of planar periodic lattice structures to manipulate electromagnetic interactions with the vehicles’ surfaces. Using naďve methods, wrapping inevitably alters a metamaterial lattice’s electromagnetic properties in an undesirable way. In MetaWrap, this effect is minimized or reversed with specialized algorithms that vary the lattice geometry in response to its new conformation. Furthermore, the resulting lattice models are compatible with manufacturing software for fabrication. MetaWrap ensures that the final lattice is interoperable with key manufacturing and simulation software. MetaWrap has a modern user interface to wrap any planar periodic structure over any surface is desired and has a feasible pathway to largescale parallelization for computationally intensive jobs and operation in secure DoD cloud environments as the technology matures.