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• Face-centered hierarchical strategy is proposed to develop a novel honeycomb. • Face-centered hierarchical network provides strong lateral support to resist the multi-crushing loads. • Effect of hierarchy order and thickness gradient is significant on the multi-crushing properties. • Face-centered hierarchical honeycomb possesses the more stable and efficient multi-crushing properties. The undesirable resistance to multi-crushing loads limits the development of regular honeycomb structures in advanced engineering fields. Therefore, a novel hierarchical strategy, namely face-centered hierarchical strategy, is proposed to improve the multi-crushing properties of honeycombs. The honeycombs with the face-centered hierarchical network are manufactured by selective laser melting to test their energy absorption mechanism against the oblique crushing load. The multi-crushing properties of face-centered hierarchical honeycomb (FCHH) are explored by a numerical investigation. The carrying capacity and energy absorption of the FCHH decrease with the increasing crushing angle. The parameter configuration design indicates that the hierarchy order has a positive effect on the multi-crushing resistance of the FCHH. The face-centered hierarchical network not only provides the strong lateral support, improving the collapse of the honeycomb, but also reduces the folding wavelength, improving its material utilization. Specifically, the specific energy absorption and crushing force efficiency of the FCHH improve by 27.65 % and 30.83 % respectively as the hierarchy order increases from 1 to 3 at the crushing angle of 30°. Furthermore, when the thickness gradient factor is close to 1, the FCHH obtains a more reasonable material distribution to resist the oblique crushing load. Compared with other hierarchical honeycombs for the oblique crushing resistance, the FCHH demonstrates a more stable carrying process and more efficient energy absorption. This research expects to propose a promising reinforcement strategy to guide the design of multi-crushing properties for honeycombs. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cellular structures such as honeycombs are used to manage impact loads in many engineering applications, where often the impact load is oblique (non-axial). Although these structures have been extensively studied under axial impacts, a key question remains largely unaddressed: How may their axial and shear responses be independently tailored for oblique impacts? Here we test whether incorporating curvature in the form of axisymmetric shape changes in the cell walls of viscoelastic circular cell honeycombs enables independent control over their shear and compressive responses during oblique impacts. We developed detailed finite element models of the circular cell honeycombs made of the 3D printable viscoelastic material Agilus. Using a new rig, we validated the predictions of the finite element models under oblique impacts. We performed a full-factorial computational design-of-experiments, varying the cell shape from concave to convex with different amplitudes and impact velocities from 2.5 to 7.5 m/s in order to determine their effects on the shear and compressive responses of the honeycombs under oblique impacts. The finite element models demonstrate remarkable agreement with experimental oblique impacts for both concave and convex cells. Our full-factorial computational search shows that both convex and concave cells have similar compressive stresses. However, the post-buckling shear stress of the concave cells are up to 300% larger than the convex cells. In addition, increasing the impact velocity increases both compressive and shear stresses by 211% due to the viscoelastic nature of the material. Our results show that these new recoverable honeycombs provide a compelling control over their shear response under oblique impacts, which is nearly independent from their compressive response. These new honeycombs can be used to manage oblique impacts in a wide range of products, such as helmets, shoes and seats, where enabling an independent control over shear and compressive responses will open new design avenues. In addition, the proposed simple control mechanism, i.e. the curvature change, can be exploited in future to actively morph the honeycomb cells during use for real-time performance adjustment. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• An innovative graded hierarchical honeycomb is proposed to improve its crashworthiness. • Two gradient distributions (negative & positive) and two sub-structural topologies (hexagonal & triangular) are considered. • Crushing mechanism of graded hierarchical honeycomb is investigated via numerical and theoretical analyses. • Specific energy absorption of graded hierarchical honeycombs is enhanced up to 32.2% as compared to uniform counterpart. • Three plateau stages can be observed for graded hierarchical honeycomb under dynamic crushing. Nature's bio-organisms are typically hybrid structures composed of hierarchical and functionally graded micro-architectures, which are lightweight and of high mechanical performances. Inspired by nature, an innovative graded hierarchical honeycomb is proposed in this study to enhance its crashworthiness behaviors. The structure is created by replacing cell walls of regular honeycombs with triangular and hexagonal sub-structures and varying the hierarchical length ratio in each layer. The in-plane crushing performances of the graded hierarchical honeycombs are comprehensively analyzed and compared with their uniform hierarchical counterpart. The former exhibits a progressive deformation model under different impact velocities and three plateau stages can be observed under in-plane crushing loads through theoretical predictions. The triangular sub-structure presents better energy absorption than the hexagonal sub-structure, and its specific energy absorption is enhanced by up to 32.2% as compared to the uniform hierarchical honeycomb. The present study suggests that the combination of hierarchy and gradient is an effective strategy to improve the dynamic crushing behaviors of honeycombs, which can be further explored in protective devices to enhance their impact resistance. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]