  We present a theoretical framework for new structural metamaterials we refer
to as liquid structures: a topology of bistable mechanisms made up of a high
number of cells that are sub-mechanisms composed of pseudo-rigid links and
joints. The name liquid structures comes from the similarities they present
with the kinematics of the constant flow of incompressible fluids they are
inspired by in a limited domain. The layout of the cells are obtained through a
two-step process where: (i) the node displacements are computed by means of a
Computational Fluid Dynamics tool feeding and (ii) the kinematic synthesis of
each cell that is subsequently performed. We report two illustrative examples
where star- and diamond-type cells are employed. The paper concludes with a
detailed discussion about future theoretical and manufacturing challenges
arising from this new metamaterial paradigm.
