MOAMMM · Project

3D-Printed Shock-Absorbing Materials Custom-Designed for Sports and Safety Gear

manufacturingPrototypeTRL 4Thin data (2/5)

Imagine you could design a material's inner structure — like tiny springs and lattices — so it absorbs shocks far better than regular foam or plastic. That's what this project did: they built software that optimizes these micro-patterns, then 3D-prints the result. The team actually produced working prototypes of two types of engineered shock absorbers, targeting things like running shoe soles that survive millions of impacts and bike helmets that soak up maximum crash energy. It's like going from off-the-rack to custom-tailored, but for the material itself.

By the numbers

consortium partners

countries involved (AT, BE, DE, ES)

total project deliverables

printed metamaterial prototypes (demo deliverables)

industrial partner in consortium

20%

industry participation ratio

The business problem

What needed solving

Sports and safety gear manufacturers face a fundamental trade-off: make products lighter and more comfortable, or make them absorb more impact energy — but rarely both. Current materials like expanded polystyrene or standard foams are one-size-fits-all and cannot be tuned to specific impact scenarios or individual users. Designing better shock absorbers requires optimizing material structure at microscopic scales, which is computationally expensive and hard to manufacture with traditional methods.

The solution

What was built

The team built a data-driven design methodology that links material micro-structure to structural performance, plus multi-scale optimization software for shock-absorbing metamaterials. They produced 2 physical prototypes — a printed bi-stable metamaterial and a printed lattice metamaterial — both fabricated using additive manufacturing and validated through micro-characterization testing, out of 17 total deliverables.

Audience

Who needs this

Athletic footwear brands designing performance midsoles (e.g. running, basketball shoes)Helmet manufacturers for cycling, skiing, and motorsportsAutomotive crash structure suppliers and Tier-1 safety component makers3D-printing service bureaus looking for high-value application nichesSporting goods companies developing customizable protective equipment

Business applications

Who can put this to work

Sports Footwear

mid-size

Target: Athletic shoe manufacturers and midsole material suppliers

If you are a sports footwear company dealing with midsole durability and performance trade-offs — this project developed a data-driven method to design and 3D-print bi-stable metamaterial soles that resist fatigue over repeated impacts. The consortium of 5 partners across 4 countries produced printed bi-stable metamaterial prototypes specifically targeting shoe sole applications. This could let you offer customized cushioning tuned to individual athletes or specific sports.

Safety Equipment

any

Target: Helmet manufacturers for cycling, motorcycling, and industrial use

If you are a helmet maker struggling to balance weight, comfort, and maximum energy absorption in a single hit — this project built lattice metamaterials optimized to dissipate the most energy during failure. They printed working lattice metamaterial prototypes and developed multi-scale optimization tools to design them. This means helmets could be lighter yet absorb more crash energy than conventional expanded polystyrene.

Automotive & Aerospace

enterprise

Target: Tier-1 suppliers producing crash structures and impact-absorbing components

If you are an automotive or aerospace supplier looking for lighter crash-absorbing parts that can be tuned to specific impact scenarios — this project created a design-to-print pipeline for shock-absorbing metamaterials using additive manufacturing. The 17 deliverables include both the optimization software and printed prototypes. The method accounts for manufacturing uncertainties, which matters when certifying safety-critical parts.

Frequently asked

Quick answers

What would it cost to adopt this technology?

The project does not disclose licensing fees or per-unit production costs. However, the technology relies on polymer additive manufacturing, so costs will depend on your existing 3D-printing capacity and the complexity of the metamaterial design. Based on available project data, a pilot engagement would likely start with design optimization software access plus sample printing runs.

Can this scale to industrial production volumes?

The current prototypes are 3D-printed research samples — the project produced its first printed bi-stable and lattice metamaterials for lab characterization. Scaling to mass production would require bridging from lab-scale additive manufacturing to production-grade printing or adapting designs for injection molding. The data-driven design tools themselves can scale, but manufacturing throughput remains an open challenge.

Who owns the intellectual property and how can I license it?

The project was coordinated by Université de Liège (Belgium) under a Research and Innovation Action with 5 partners. IP ownership typically follows the Horizon 2020 grant agreement, meaning each partner owns the IP they generated. Licensing discussions would need to go through the coordinator and the relevant partner who developed the specific technology you need.

How long until this is ready for commercial products?

The project ran from 2020 to September 2024 and reached the prototype stage with printed metamaterial samples. Based on available project data, the technology would likely need 2-4 more years of engineering development, testing, and certification before appearing in commercial products like shoes or helmets. The design optimization software may be closer to usable form.

How does this integrate with our existing manufacturing?

The technology is built around additive manufacturing — specifically polymer 3D printing. If you already use industrial 3D printers, the integration path is through the design optimization software that outputs printable geometries. If you use traditional manufacturing like injection molding, adaptation work would be needed to translate the metamaterial designs into moldable forms.

What evidence exists that the materials actually perform?

The project produced 2 demo deliverables: a printed bi-stable metamaterial and a printed lattice metamaterial, both created for micro-characterization testing. The 17 total deliverables include experimental validation results, though detailed performance benchmarks are not available in the public dataset. The project specifically targeted fatigue resistance and energy dissipation as measurable outcomes.

Consortium

Who built it

The MOAMMM consortium is research-heavy: 3 universities and 1 research organization alongside just 1 industrial partner, giving a 20% industry ratio across 5 partners in 4 countries (Austria, Belgium, Germany, Spain). Coordinated by Université de Liège in Belgium, this is a typical early-stage research setup under the FET-Open programme. The single SME in the consortium suggests some commercial awareness, but a business looking to adopt this technology should expect to invest in additional engineering and industrialization work beyond what the project delivered. The 4-country spread across Western Europe indicates access to strong additive manufacturing ecosystems in each region.

UNIVERSITE DE LIEGECoordinator · BE
FUNDACION IMDEA MATERIALESparticipant · ES
UNIVERSITAT LINZparticipant · AT
UNIVERSITE CATHOLIQUE DE LOUVAINparticipant · BE
CIRP GMBHparticipant · DE

How to reach the team

Université de Liège, Belgium — reach out through the project website or university engineering faculty contacts

Order a report on this consortium See UNIVERSITE DE LIEGE profile →

Next steps

Talk to the team behind this work.

Want an introduction to the MOAMMM team to explore licensing their metamaterial design tools or printed prototypes? SciTransfer can arrange a direct meeting with the right research lead.

Order a report on this topic More in Manufacturing & Industry 4.0