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As an alternative to the conventional concave hexagonal honeycomb structure (CHHS), a negative Poisson's ratio honeycomb structure with power function curve (NHPC) was devised. The relationship between the power function exponent (PFE) and normalized power function coefficient (NPFC) of honeycomb structure and its equivalent Poisson's ratio (EPR) was explored to identify the range of variables required for the negative Poisson's ratio effect. To investigate the in-plane mechanical properties and energy absorption characteristics of NHPC, the deformation mode, dynamic response, and energy absorption characteristics under various impact velocities were studied by constructing an in-plane impact simulation model. The results showed that NHPC obviously exhibited a negative Poisson's ratio effect on medium and low impact velocities, and the deformation was primarily uniform. As the NPFC increased, the honeycomb structure was less prone to stress concentration, while the peak crushing force (PCF) and the specific energy absorption (SEA) declined and the plateau stress increased. A multi-objective optimization experiment was operated with low PCF and high SEA as the targets within the range of design variables in order to generate the optimal NHPC. According to the experimental findings, the improved NHPC showed a 25.48 % reduction in PCF and a 19.29 % increase in SEA. This paper provides theoretical recommendations for improving the energy absorption and structural optimization of the honeycomb structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the increase of demands for anti-collision performance in many fields, the negative Poisson's ratio structure has attracted the attention of researchers due to its light weight and high shear stiffness. Therefore, a new negative Poisson's ratio (NPR) structure named three-beam star honeycomb (TBSH) is proposed based on the classical star honeycomb (CSH). The stress equation of TBSH is derived by energy method, and its deformation characteristics and mechanical properties are studied. The results show that the structural deformation modes are different under different impact velocities, and TBSH has more obvious NPR effect. In addition, the influence of geometrical parameters on energy absorption of structures is also investigated. Finally, the thickness gradient is introduced into this structure, and the thickness gradient is optimized by multi-island genetic algorithm (MIGA). After optimization, the specific energy absorption (SEA) of the structure is significantly improved, while the initial peak stress (IPS) is decreased. The new structure proposed in this paper is expected to provide a novel design thinking and optimization idea for superstructure design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to their superior structural and mechanical properties, materials with negative Poisson's ratio are of increasing interest to research scholars, especially in fuel-efficient vehicles. In this work, a new concave I-shaped honeycomb structure is established by integrating the re-entrant hexagon and the I-shaped beam structure, and its negative Poisson's ratio characteristics and energy absorption properties are investigated. The effect of structural parameters on the energy absorption characteristics is analyzed using the finite element model. The results show that both the specific energy absorption and peak impact force decrease with the increase in cellular length and vertical short cellular height, and increase with the increase in horizontal short cellular length and cellular thickness. To obtain a smaller peak impact force and larger specific energy absorption with smaller mass, the four cell sizes were optimized by using Latin hypercube sampling, Gaussian radial basis function, and non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm II (NSGA-II). Compared with the original design, the SEA increased by 44.175%, and the PCF increased by 25.857%. Meanwhile, the mass decreased by 31.140%. Hence, the optimal structure has better crashworthiness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metastructures are extensively used in aerospace engineering. In the present work, a high-strength structure was designed based on a reentrant hexagonal honeycomb (RHH) by topology optimization. To generate a negative Poisson's ratio (NPR) effect, topologically optimized cells were alternately arranged with RHH cells to obtain a hybrid hexagonal honeycomb (HHH). In comparison with other NPR structures, this structure had superior energy absorption characteristics. In addition, the mechanical properties and deformation behavior of this structure were analyzed. Finally, single, double, and triple functional gradients were introduced into the HHH. It was found that the introduction of functional gradients improved the energy absorption capacity of the structure, and that the energy absorption capacity increased with the increase in the number of functional gradients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Honeycomb structure containing curved reentrant sides with negative Poisson's ratio (NPR) was designed and the impact dynamics behaviors were studied by finite element method. The Poisson's ratio and the energy absorption capacity of the honeycomb structure with different arc angle were studied under different compression velocities. The results show that the Poisson's ratio of the honeycomb structure can reach −0.373 with arc angle of 180°. The energy absorption capacity of the honeycomb structure increased with an increasing compression velocity, and the deformation mode changed from X type to V type and I type. When the compression velocity is low, the dynamic response curve of the honeycomb structure with arc angle of 180° has the characteristics of two-stage plateau region. When the compression velocity is high, the energy absorption capacity of the honeycomb structure increased with an increasing arc angle. When the arc angle is higher than 120°, the honeycomb structure has NPR effect, and the energy absorption capacity of the honeycomb structure is better than the honeycomb structure with other arc angles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A class of modified hexagonal honeycomb to realize pattern transformation. • Honeycomb's elastic constants are derived by theoretical energy analysis. • Honeycomb structures exhibit auxetic behavior after pattern transformation. • The cell/node of the honeycomb has a rotating behavior after pattern transformation. • The underlying mechanism of pattern transformation is revealed for honeycomb. Pattern transformation, as one of the special properties of mechanical metamaterials, is widely found in elastic porous structures and gradually expanding to honeycomb structures. Inspired by the higher-order flower-like buckling pattern of hexagonal honeycomb, and generalizing the geometry of structures that pattern transformation occurs under uniaxial compression, this paper proposes a Modified Hexagonal Honeycomb(MHH) structure by adjusting the thickness ratio α and the deflection extension angle θ of the cell wall to topologically reconstruct the honeycomb structure to initiate the first-order quasi-flower-like buckling pattern under uniaxial loading. Results show that the quasi-flower-like pattern transformation appears directly for the MHH structure under uniaxial compression, accompanied with a transition of the Poisson's ratio, from positive to negative. And the butterfly pattern, which appears for traditional hexagonal honeycomb only under biaxial loading, is also observed for the MHH under uniaxial compression. The relative size of the nodes among cell walls is believed to play a crucial role on the appearance of the pattern transformation of the honeycomb structure. This work has revealed the underlying physical mechanism for pattern transformation of honeycomb structures, and would also extend the application range of honeycomb structures to the design of elastic dampers, bending/torsion actuators, or robot drive joints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]