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Honeycomb is regarded as a valuable structural material because of its high strength, shear stiffness, high impact strength, low weight, high crushing stress, and nearly constant force to crush. It is a cellular solid, well-known as a core in creating sandwich structures for use in structural composites. Honeycombs are often utilized in the aircraft sector as the core of sandwich panels and in the automotive industry as effective impact attenuators because of their superior mechanical performance. The hollow spaces in the honeycomb structure not only reduce weight but also ensure the required strength, provided they are designed correctly. In lightweight application areas, because they offer structural integrity, 3-D woven honeycomb composites have a bright future and possess the potential to replace aluminum and other metal alloys. This issue of Textile Progress focuses on the manufacturing of 3-D woven honeycomb fabrics, their mechanical characterization, application areas, different ways of weaving honeycomb cells, and some innovations related to honeycomb-like auxetic and 3-D printed honeycomb structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Auxetic honeycomb sandwich structures (AHS) composed of a single material generally exhibit comparatively lower energy absorption (EA) and platform stress, as compared to traditional non-auxetic sandwich structures (TNS). To address this limitation, the present study examines the use of aluminum foam (AF) as a filling material in the re-entrant honeycomb sandwich structure (RS). Filling the AHS with AF greatly enhances both the EA and platform stress in comparison to filling the TNS with AF, while the auxetic composite honeycomb sandwich structure effectively addresses interface delamination observed in traditional non-auxetic composite sandwich structures. Subsequently, the positive–negative Poisson's ratio coupling designs are proposed to strengthen the mechanical features of a single honeycomb sandwich structure. The analysis results show that the coupling structure optimizes the mechanical properties by leveraging the high bearing capacity of the hexagonal honeycomb and the great interaction between the re-entrant honeycomb and the filling material. In contrast with traditional non-auxetic sandwich structures, the proposed auxetic composite honeycomb sandwich structures demonstrate superior EA and platform stress performance, suggesting their immense potential for utilization in protective engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, the non‐linear free vibration behavior of sandwich composite panels with sinusoidal corrugations is examined. These panels consist of a top and bottom skin made of a graphene‐reinforced composite, with an auxetic honeycomb core having negative Poisson's ratio. The non‐linear kinematic field is based on Kant's higher‐order shear‐deformation theory and the Green‐strain, which incorporates all the higher‐order terms. By implementing the Hamilton principle, the non‐linear governing equations are affirmed and solved further through 2D‐isoparametric finite element approximations via Lagrangian elements in conjunction with Picard's successive iterative scheme. The comparison and validation tests demonstrate the correctness of the present model. The established sandwich model is further employed for various parametric conditions by varying the core‐to‐face sheet thickness, auxetic honeycomb properties, graphene volume fraction, shell configurations, temperature, and support conditions. These numerous results exemplify the non‐linear frequencies at small‐to‐large amplitudes for the sandwich shell structures and are discussed in detail. In addition, a multi‐objective parametric optimization is conducted using the response surface method to investigate the optimal values of the corrugated auxetic honeycomb shell panel's parameters, resulting maximum frequency. Highlights: Non‐linear vibration of corrugated sandwich shell panel.Graphene reinforced skins and honeycomb auxetic core.Kant's higher‐order shear‐deformation theory and Green‐Lagrange non‐linearity.Hamilton principle and Picard's successive iterative scheme.Multi‐objective parametric optimization and prediction using response surface methodology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Auxetic honeycomb has unique mechanical properties such as good energy absorption capacity, tensile strength and fracture toughness, etc. Therefore, honeycomb with a negative Poisson's ratio is used widely in medical, biological, aerospace and other fields. This honeycomb has large deformations in energy absorption and vibration reduction. It is very important to study the nonlinear constitutive of the honeycomb structure. Therefore, this paper establishes the nonlinear constitutive relationship of the auxetic honeycomb structure under large deformations. This constitutive relation includes the in-plane stress, in-plane strain, Young's modulus and Poisson's ratio of the negative Poisson's ratio honeycomb. The finite element model of the negative Poisson's ratio honeycomb cells is established, and the calculated results of finite element model are compared with that of the theoretical calculation results. On this basis, the influence of the geometric parameters on the mechanical properties of the structure is studied. The results of this paper will provide a theoretical basis for the further study of the auxetic honeycomb sandwich structure and provide a basis for the engineering application of honeycomb structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The influence of unit cell geometric parameters on the thermal fracture behavior and thermal shock resistance of honeycomb ceramics sandwich structures is revealed for the first time. The present study establishes a continuum model for the thermal fracture of sandwich structures, and a discrete numerical representation model for the equivalent fracture toughness of honeycombs, respectively. A novel evaluation approach for the thermal shock resistance of porous material structures has been provided by combining the two models. The effects of temperature dependence, face sheet thickness, honeycomb orientation and honeycomb geometrical parameters on thermal shock resistance are studied. Results indicate that changing the inclined angle of honeycomb can effectively increase the critical thermal shock temperature rise. Auxetic honeycomb sandwich structures with the inclined angle of −9° can reach the peak of the critical temperature rise. The results would contribute to the application of honeycomb sandwich structures in thermal protection systems. • Thermal shock resistance of honeycomb sandwich structures was evaluated through continuum model and numerical model. • The influence of honeycomb geometric parameters on equivalent fracture toughness was revealed. • The critical temperature rise of sandwich structures with honeycomb cores of different unit cells was predicted. • The inclined angle is the key parameter to improve the thermal shock resistance of honeycomb sandwich structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The static stability of auxetic truncated conical sandwich shells reinforced by stiffeners surrounded by elastic foundations is investigated. The shells are made from two isotropic outer layers and an auxetic core layer with a negative Poisson ratio. Based on the classical shell theory, combined with the displacement and Bubnov–Galerkin methods, the governing equations of the shells are derived and solved. The critical buckling load of the shells as a function of their geometrical parameters, the honeycomb structure, stiffeners, and types of elastic foundations are examined in detail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main objective of this paper is to evaluate the dynamic behaviour of sandwich toroidal shells composed of a core with negative Poisson ratio (auxetic honeycomb material) and nanocomposite enriched coating layers under impulsive/periodic pressures considering the geometrical nonlinearity. The set of nonlinear equilibrium equations based on the first-order shear deformation theory are and the resultant nonlinear differential motion equations are approximately solved by the Galerkin method and 4th-order Runge–Kutta solution, respectively. The achieved responses show that the amplitude of outward deformations is intensively increased when the proposed sandwich shells are subjected to rectangular periodic and impulsive loadings which shows the destructive effects of this type dynamic loading. The performed parametric studies shows that these destructive effects can be controlled by changing the geometrical properties of the honeycomb cells and the volume fractions of the nanocomposites in the coating layers. It is notable that in the previous studies the nonlinear dynamic response of toroidal shells subjected to various periodic and impulsive pressures was not investigated. However, in the present work, the mentioned dynamic responses were achieved and investigated without spending time-consuming computational. In fact, the novelty of this work is to develop such a robust and efficient tool. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the impact of polyurethane foam (PUF) filling on the dynamic response of honeycomb sandwich beams (HSBs) through the blast testing. The HSBs are composed of steel face sheets and an aluminium alloy honeycomb core filled with PUF. A comparative analysis of damage modes is conducted between conventional hexagonal and auxetic HSBs, considering both foam-filled and unfilled configurations. The results reveal that the HSBs with foam filling demonstrate significantly enhanced blast performance compared to their counterparts without foam filling. This superiority is evident in both global deformation and local damage characteristics. Furthermore, a well-validated numerical model is developed to examine the damage mechanisms of PUF-filled HSBs under blast loading. The investigation reveals that appropriate PUF filling methods can effectively enhance bending resistance while minimizing the decline in the energy absorption efficiency. Finally, a multiobjective optimization was conducted using the back-propagation (BP) neural network and the SPEA2 algorithm to identify the optimal position for PUF. By utilizing a reduced foam filling approach as opposed to completely filling the structure, the two optimized configurations show a decrease in deformation of 5.38 % with an equivalent specific energy absorption (SEA) or an increase in the SEA by 5.26 % with an equivalent deformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Effects of heating and cooling thermal shock on thermally induced vibration (TIV) are explored. • Influence of geometric nonlinearity under heating/cooling thermal shock forms is revealed. • The TIV characteristics of sandwich beams with auxetic honeycomb cores are discussed and compared with traditional honeycomb. • The instability conditions of the clamped beam with immovable ends under heating thermal shock are given. The nonlinear thermally induced vibration (TIV) characteristics of sandwich beams with auxetic honeycomb cores under general boundary conditions are studied. Based on first-order shear deformation theory, the dynamic governing equations are obtained through Hamilton principle, in which geometric nonlinearity and temperature dependence are considered. The temperature field along the thickness is calculated by finite element method and nonlinear TIV responses are solved via Newton-Raphson-Newmark method. The effects of temperature dependency, thermal shock forms, geometric nonlinearity, thicknesses of beam and face-sheet, boundaries and honeycomb geometrical parameters are studied. Results show that the reduction of the absolute inclined angle of the auxetic honeycomb can weaken the TIV responses. The influence of geometric nonlinearity on quasi-static and dynamic responses depends on the thermal shock form. Thermal buckling is the necessary condition for the occurrence of the TIV in clamped beams with immovable ends. Moreover, the research provides some design references to suppress the TIV responses of the sandwich beam with auxetic honeycomb core. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modern engineering extensively employs complexly curved shell structures, presenting mathematical challenges in analyzing their mechanical behavior due to geometric intricacies. The recent trend of incorporating advanced lightweight materials into these structures drives the need to develop improved theories and methods. This study presents an investigation into the free vibration analysis of barrel-shaped sandwich (BSS) shells using a modified thick shell theory (MTST). These sandwich shells feature functionally graded (FG) ceramic-metal layers on both inner and outer surfaces, with a lightweight honeycomb core. Notably, the honeycomb layer's thickness surpasses that of the inner and outer layers, necessitating the application of thick shell theory for accurate analysis. However, previous studies have often used classical theories for thin shells, and those applying thick shell theory sometimes neglected the curvature effects in the fundamental equations and rotary inertia components. Thus, this research employs the MTST to overcome these limitations. The study includes comparative validations and explores the impact of material parameters and curvature radii on the natural frequencies of these barrel-shaped sandwich shells through numerical examples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, a model for the nonlinear dynamic analysis of the geometrically imperfect sandwich beam with functionally graded material (FGM) facets and auxetic honeycomb core is proposed. The auxetic feature of the honeycomb material is realized by a homogenization method, which gives the expressions of the effective material coefficients in terms of material property and cellular geometric parameters. The nonlinear motion equation of the geometrically imperfect beam is derived based on the Reddy's higher shear deformation theory, von Kármán nonlinear theory, as well as general geometric imperfection function. The thermal effect on the material properties and structural rigidity is also taken into account in this model. The Newmark method and Newton–Raphson iterative method are employed to solve the nonlinear motion equation of the sandwich beam. In numerical examples, the dynamic response of the sandwich beam under two types of load, i.e. moving load and impulse load, are discussed in details. The influences of various factors (such as material parameter, geometric imperfection, and thermal condition) on the nonlinear dynamic behaviors of the sandwich beam are elaborately investigated. The numerical results show those factors can play significant roles in the bearing ability, structural stiffness, or nonlinear dynamic behaviors of the sandwich beam in certain conditions. Some key conclusions on the influences are drawn from the numerical results, which can be a useful reference for future investigations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The proposed hybrid AuxHex structure consists of auxetic and honeycomb cells. • The equations for modulus and strength along x - and y -directions are derived. • Theoretical results are in agreement with simulation and experimental results. • Mechanical properties and specific energy absorption are enhanced 16% and 38%. The architected mechanical metamaterials have garnered significant research attention for a variety of engineering application due to their remarkable mechanical properties and unique deformation behavior. Herein, the in-plane uniaxial compressive response and energy absorption capacity of a novel hybrid configuration, AuxHex structure, which consists of auxetic and hexagonal honeycomb cells, are systematically investigated through theoretical, finite element simulation and experimental methods. A series of AuxHex sandwich core panels have been fabricated with nylon material by using additive manufacturing route. The relationships for Young's modulus and plastic collapse stress along different loading directions are derived and validated through the comparative analysis. In addition, the deformation mechanism and failure modes of the AuxHex structure have also been discussed in detail. The AuxHex structures have exhibited superior Young's modulus, collapse strength and energy absorption than traditional honeycomb structures. In the x -direction, the energy absorption capacity was improved by 38%, which can be attributed to the uniform and stable deformation mode of the unit cell. The theoretical prediction results of Young's modulus and plastic collapse stress are consistent with finite element simulation and experimental results. The AuxHex structures demonstrate a novel design strategy for the architected metamaterials through the combination of various cellular cells. The hybrid structures will play an important role in both the load-bearing and energy-absorbing applications, and it demonstrates a novel design strategy for the architected metamaterials through the combination of various cellular cells. Image, graphical abstract [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Auxetic mechanical metamaterials that exhibit a negative Poisson's ratio (NPR) can be artificially designed to exhibit a unique range of physical and mechanical properties. Novel sandwich structures composed of uniform and gradient auxetic double arrowhead honeycomb (DAH) cores were investigated in terms of their vibration and sound transmission performance stimulated by nonhomogeneous metamaterials with nonperiodic cell geometries. The spectral element method (SEM) was employed to accurately evaluate the natural frequencies and dynamic responses with a limited number of elements at high frequencies. The results indicated that the vibrating mode shapes and deformations of the DAH sandwich models were strongly affected by the patterned gradient metamaterials. In addition, the sound insulation performance of the considered DAH sandwich models was investigated regarding the sound transmission loss (STL) from 1 Hz to 1500 Hz under a normal incident planar wave, and this performance was compared with that for hexagonal honeycomb sandwich panels. A programmable structural-acoustic optimization was implemented to maximize the STL while maintaining a constant weight and high strength. The results showed that the uniform DAH sandwich models with larger NPRs generally exhibited better vibration and acoustic attenuation behaviors and that the optimized gradient increasing NPR models yielded higher STL values than the optimized gradient decreasing NPR models for two specified frequency cases, with improvements of 6.52 dB and 2.52 dB and a higher bending stiffness but a lower overall STL. Thus, sandwich panels consisting of auxetic DAHs can achieve desirable vibroacoustic performance with a higher bending stiffness than conventional hexagonal honeycomb sandwich structures, and the design of gradient DAHs can be extended to obtain optimized vibration and noise-control capabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nonlinear dynamic behavior of double curved shallow shells with negative Poisson’s ratios in auxetic honeycombs on elastic foundations subjected blast, mechanical and damping loads is investigated in the present article. This study considers double curved shallow shells with auxetic core which have three layers in which the top and the bottom outer skins are isotropic aluminum materials; the central layer has honeycomb structure using the same aluminum material. Based on the analytical solution, Reddy’s third order shear deformation theory (TSDT) with the geometrical nonlinear in von Karman and Airy stress functions method, Galerkin method and the fourth-order Runge-Kutta method, the resulting equations are solved to obtain expressions for nonlinear motion equations. The effects of geometrical parameters, material properties, elastic foundations, imperfections, blast loads, mechanical and damping loads on the nonlinear dynamic analysis of double curved shallow shells with negative Poisson’s ratios in auxetic honeycombs are studied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main goal of this study is using analytical solution to investigate the nonlinear dynamic response and vibration of sandwich auxetic composite cylindrical panels. The sandwich composite panels have three layers in which the top and bottom outer skins are isotropic aluminum materials, the central auxetic core layer – honeycomb structures with negative Poisson's ratio using the same aluminum material. The panels are resting on elastic foundations and subjected to mechanical, blast and damping loads. Based on Reddy's first order shear deformation theory (FSDT) with the geometrical nonlinear in von Karman and using the Airy stress functions method, Galerkin method and fourth-order Runge–Kutta method, the resulting equations are solved to obtain expressions for nonlinear motion equations. The effects of geometrical parameters, material properties, elastic Winkler and Pasternak foundations, mechanical, blast and damping loads on the nonlinear dynamic response and the natural frequencies of sandwich composite cylindrical panels are studied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on Love shell theory and equivalent single layer theory, a new method is proposed in this paper to analyze the dynamic response of honeycomb sandwich pipe under the action of moving pressure. The results of displacement response under two boundary conditions are within 3.5% error range with the FEM results. The theoretical model takes into account the effect of thickness, and the calculation results are more accurate compared with the FSDT method, which can be used for both thin-walled and thick-walled pipes. By analyzing the effects of honeycomb structure parameters and pipe dimensions on the critical velocity and displacement response of honeycomb sandwich pipe, theoretical guidance is provided for the design of new pipeline structures. • A novel mathematical procedure has been presented to study the vibrational behaviour of a composite cylindrical shell consisting of elastic-isotropic skin and a zero Poisson's ratio cellular core under moving pressure. • The equations of motion have been extracted based on the classical shell theory and Hamilton's principle. • A detailed parametric study was carried out to investigate the sensitivity of the geometric parameters and material properties of the honeycomb core to the natural frequency, critical velocity and displacement response of the sandwiched cylindrical shell. • The research of this paper provides theoretical guidance for the structural design of new honeycomb pipeline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Blast experiments were conducted to study the close-in blast effect and failure characteristics of honeycomb HSPs. • The blast performance of auxetic HSPs is compared with regular hexagonal HSPs. • Simulation is in good agreement with experiments and can describe the deformation and fracture damage. • The effect of the core type and unit-cell angle on the damage of HSPs is investigated. 3D-printed auxetic honeycomb sandwich panels (HSPs) have considerable potential for blast resistance enhancement. This study aims to bridge the gap with regard to the experimental data on the effect of 3D-printed auxetic hexagonal honeycomb cores on the blast response of HSPs. To this end, the blast resistance of HSPs developed using auxetic re-entrant and regular hexagonal honeycomb cores is investigated experimentally and numerically. First, six HSPs are tested under close-in blast loadings. The HSPs comprise Q345 steel top and bottom sheets as well as a honeycomb aluminum alloy core with two configurations (regular hexagonal and auxetic re-entrant). According to the results, the former configuration enhances the HSP blast resistance by not only decreasing the deformation of the HSPs but also improving their damage tolerance. In addition, the responses of the HSPs are numerically studied via finite element analysis. The numerical method using the finite element program LS-DYNA achieves reasonable accuracy. Finally, a parametric study is conducted to investigate the effects of the honeycomb type, cell angle, debonding effects, and core material on the blast resistance of the HSPs. The results demonstrate that employing auxetic hexagonal honeycomb core, smaller cell angle, and ductile core material can improve the blast resistance of HSPs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The literature on energy harvesting using piezoelectric materials is firmly concentrated on structures like cantilever beams with piezoelectric layers. In the present research, a piezo harvester made of a honeycomb sandwich panel is studied. The modeled sandwich panel is made of an auxetic core and two carbon nanotube-reinforced face sheets. It will be shown that this harvester offers more flexibility in its stiffness, leading to better performance in harvested energy. The displacement field of the panel is formulated in a general form, which includes different types of shear deformable plate theories. Within these plate models, transverse shear stresses and rotary inertias are taken into account. A piezoelectric layer is integrated at the top of the honeycomb substructure, and vibrations are originated from an external harmonic source. The material properties of the carbon nanotubes vary lineally in the thickness direction. Hamilton's principle is adopted to derive governing equations of motion, and then weighted residual method is applied to discretize the coupled differential electro-mechanical equations of motions. After validating the model, a detailed parametric study is carried out to investigate the impacts of different parameters such as auxetic cell characteristics, carbon nanotube volume fraction, carbon nanotube configuration, and geometrical dimensions on the electrical power and voltage of the harvester. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A review of the literature reveals a dearth of works on functionally graded material sandwich shells having an auxetic core layer. This study contributes an analytical approach for the free vibration analysis of doubly curved stiffened sandwich shells with the face sheets of functionally graded materials and the core layer of the auxetic honeycomb material. The theoretical formulation is established based on first-order shear deformation theory associated with the smeared stiffener method. The free vibration solution of simply supported shallow shells with the rectangular platform is derived using Navier's form. The proposed methodology is general and can be applied to examine the natural frequencies of various shell types, including flat, cylindrical, spherical, and hyperbolic paraboloidal panels. Numerical results indicate that the fundamental frequency is largely influenced by the relative proportion of the constituent materials of the face layers, the geometrical parameters of the auxetic honeycomb core layer, as well as the stiffeners. Additionally, a simple optimization technique based on Rao algorithms is introduced to obtain the maximum fundamental frequency of the shell. It is shown that the shell parameters, particularly the thickness of the auxetic core and the number of stiffeners, can be tailored to maximize the natural frequency. Moreover, the optimal solutions are fully dependent on the material proportion of the functionally graded material, the geometry of the shell, and the geometrical parameters of the auxetic honeycomb core. • Free vibration of doubly curved stiffened sandwich shells with FGM faces and auxetic core is freshly addressed • Simple optimization technique based on Rao algorithms is introduced to obtain the maximum fundamental frequency of the shell • New parametric studies on the frequencies of doubly curved stiffened auxetic sandwich FGM shells are examined [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sandwich panels/sacrificial cladding systems composed of an auxetic core sandwiched between two faceplates can be considered an effective protective measure for reinforced concrete structures from blast loads. In this study, the effectiveness of re-entrant honeycomb core sandwich (RHS) protective panel systems, which exhibit a negative Poisson's ratio, to protect one-way simply supported reinforced concrete (RC) slabs subjected to a close-range detonation from high explosive charges was experimentally evaluated. Three large-scale field blast trials were carried out, namely an RC slab without protection as the reference test and two RC slabs with RHS protective systems under similar blast loading conditions. The RC slabs with RHS protective systems experienced catastrophic failure, unlike the unprotected reference slab that experienced only localised concrete damage. LS-DYNA numerical models were validated and agreed well with the experimental results. It was demonstrated that the transferred blast impulse to the main structure can be magnified by a factor of 1.6 by using an RHS protective system compared to an unprotected structure. Furthermore, the effect of the mass of the protective system was numerically studied. The numerical results showed that the blast protection level of the main structure is governed by the inertial resistance of the protective system rather than through energy absorption of the auxetic honeycomb core structure. • Response of RC panels protected by auxetic sandwich panels to close-in explosion is investigated experimentally and numerically. • The damage magnification effect of the auxetic sandwich panels is captured experimentally which has not been reported so far. • The impulse transferred to the main structure could be magnified by a factor of 1.6 compared to the unprotected structure. • The duality of energy absorption and inertial resistance of auxetic protective systems need to be considered at close standoff distances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The nonlinear dynamic behaviour of sandwich shell panels having auxetic honeycomb core and facesheets composed of composite material with curvilinear fibres is investigated for the first time. A finite element study is performed considering a third-order shear deformation theory incorporating Murakami zig-zag effects for the analysis of the variable stiffness composite laminate (VSCL) auxetic honeycomb sandwich panels. A nine-noded C0 isoparametric quadratic shell element with eleven degrees of freedom per node is considered and von Kármán nonlinear strain-displacement equations are used to include the geometrical nonlinearity. The linear free vibration and nonlinear transient response of the panels are obtained using the eigenvalue solution and Newmark's time integration scheme, respectively. Most of the auxetic sandwich structures considered in the literature are made up of aluminium metal and therefore, the authors explored the viability of the VSCL based auxetic sandwich panels. A thorough numerical study including the effects of the geometrical parameters of the honeycomb unit cell, curvilinear fibre path angles and boundary conditions on the nonlinear dynamic response of auxetic sandwich panel with negative Poisson's ratio is presented. • Analysed linear free vibration and nonlinear transient response of the VSCL based auxetic sandwich shells panels. • A finite element formulation based on Murakami zig-zag theory with eleven degrees of freedom per node is developed. • A novel auxetic sandwich panel having VSCL facesheets and honeycomb core with negative Poisson's ratio is investigated. • The curvilinear fibre orientation of the VSCL facesheets influences the vibrational response of the auxetic shell panels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A novel composite is proposed by filling layered re-entrant honeycombs with concrete. • The mechanical properties and failure modes of two types of specimens under uniaxial compression are investigated. • The proposed auxetic composite exhibits an enhanced stiffness and shear resistance. • The effects of cell angle and cell wall thickness on the mechanical properties are investigated. Auxetic materials exhibit desirable mechanical properties, e.g., fracture resistance, shear resistance and energy dissipation due to their unique deformation characteristics. Honeycomb sandwich structures also have superior properties, e.g., energy absorption performance and low density. These desirable characteristics enable them as promising alternatives for building construction to meet the modern construction requirement which a higher safety standard is needed. In this study, a novel concrete composite with auxetic layered honeycomb was designed, manufactured and investigated for exploring the load-bearing performance of auxetic metamaterials under quasi-static compression. The layered honeycomb sandwich structure was analyzed by quasi-static compression test and its energy absorption performance was evaluated. Numerical models, validated by experimental results, were employed in parametric studies to further examine their performance. The results show that the layered structure has higher initial peak stress and stable platform stress. Moreover, it could improve the shear resistance and overall stability of the structure. These findings are beneficial to the applications of auxetic metamaterials in building construction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]