Meta-Architectured Cellular Materials develops a unified, geometry-aware computational-mechanics framework for materials and structural systems whose behavior depends on architecture, connectivity, interfaces, operating state, and scale, as well as constituent properties. Beginning with the physical architectural point, it explains how geometry carries mechanical function and how an operator-based formulation connects material behavior, structural response, and system-level design.

The framework integrates continuum mechanics, multiscale homogenization, isogeometric analysis, contact and self-contact, coupled and multibody dynamics, and reduced-order modeling. Sensitivity analysis, perturbation and reanalysis, and topology–shape optimization support efficient design exploration and manufacturable realization. Applications include auxetic architectures, non-pneumatic wheel systems, rolling contact, impact and crashworthiness, and structural–acoustic coupling.

Cells, interfaces, components, and subsystems are represented as reusable mechanical building blocks carrying geometry, physical operators, states, parameters, interface definitions, and validity information. Full-order, reduced, or hybrid realizations, explicit interface contracts, mechanics-based gluing, and distributed simulation (D-Sim) support hierarchical assembly, product-specific digital twins, model updating, and adaptive fidelity.

The book also outlines future directions in which physical observations guide discrepancy detection, parameter and operator updating, and model revalidation. It examines how AI-assisted methods may support model construction, decomposition, selection, and coordination through hybrid physics–AI representations and multi-level executable hierarchies. Federated product-specific twins offer a pathway toward mechanics-based Physical World Models and AI-assisted engineering. Mechanics supplies the governing laws and requirements for physical admissibility, interface consistency, conservation, verification, and validation.

Written for researchers, engineers, and advanced students in computational mechanics, architectured materials, and engineering design, the book connects theoretical foundations with computational methods, applications, and emerging digital-twin workflows.

Zheng-Dong Ma is Research Scientist Emeritus in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Michigan and Founder and President of N-Wheel Technologies, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA. He received his B.S. and M.S. degrees from Jilin University of Technology, China, and his Ph.D. from Kyoto University, Japan, in 1989. He joined the University of Michigan in 1991.

His research spans computational mechanics, structural and multibody dynamics, coupled structural–acoustic systems, topology and shape optimization, isogeometric analysis, and architectured cellular materials. His contributions include advanced mode-superposition and component mode synthesis methods, sensitivity analysis, homogenization-based material modeling and design, and gluing methods for distributed simulation. His work connects computational methods with engineering applications, including patented auxetic structures, non-pneumatic and runflat tire technologies, and other architectured mechanical systems.

Dr. Ma was elected a Fellow of ASME in 2008. His honors include the University of Michigan College of Engineering Outstanding Research Scientist Award and several best paper awards from professional societies. He has authored or coauthored more than ninety refereed journal articles and numerous conference papers and technical reports, and is an inventor or co-inventor on multiple patents.