  Damping mechanical resonances is a formidable challenge in an increasing
number of applications. Many of the passive damping methods rely on using low
stiffness dissipative elements, complex mechanical structures or electrical
systems, while active vibration damping systems typically add an additional
layer of complexity. However, in many cases, the reduced stiffness or
additional complexity and mass render these vibration damping methods
unfeasible. Here, we introduce a method for passive vibration damping by
allowing buckling of the primary load path, which sets an upper limit for
vibration transmission: the transmitted acceleration saturates at a maximum
value, no matter what the input acceleration is. This nonlinear mechanism leads
to an extreme damping coefficient tan delta ~0.23 in our metal
metamaterial|orders of magnitude larger than the linear damping of traditional
lightweight structural materials. We demonstrate this principle experimentally
and numerically in free-standing rubber and metal mechanical metamaterials over
a range of accelerations, and show that bi-directional buckling can further
improve its performance. Buckling metamaterials pave the way towards extreme
vibration damping without mass or stiffness penalty, and as such could be
applicable in a multitude of high-tech applications, including aerospace
structures, vehicles and sensitive instruments.
