Sequential snapping of hysterons in a biholey metamaterial

We show how to construct metamaterials that exhibit a sequence of actions under monotonic input. We embed a number of defect beams in a biholey metamaterial, such that global compression induces snapping of the defect beams. We observe that compression yields a precise, mechanical pathway of snapping and unsnapping actions of the defect beams, which act as hysterons. We investigate systems with one and multiple defect beams, focusing on design rules for the amount of hysteresis of each hysteron, as well as their coupling. Our work opens a new route to design complex pathways in metamaterials.