Research on low-velocity impact resistance of spherical honeycomb sandwich structures.

• Failure behavior of 3D printed spherical honeycomb sandwich structures. • The low-velocity impact response of spherical honeycomb sandwich structures is studied. • Impact response and failure behavior are influenced by structural parameters. • Curvature radius has significant influence on the impact resistance. • Honeycomb orientation (concentric and coaxial) has significant influence on the impact resistance. The impact resistance of spherical honeycomb sandwich structures is affected by the orientation and curvature radius of the honeycomb, which are different from those of planar honeycomb sandwich structures. In this study, concentric and coaxial spherical honeycomb sandwich structures with different curvature radii are designed, and the specimens are prepared using 3D printing technology. The impact resistance of concentric and coaxial spherical honeycomb sandwich structures with different curvature radii are investigated through low-velocity impact experiments. It is shown that the impact resistance of the concentric structure decreases with the increase of curvature radius, which is better than that of the coaxial structure with the same curvature radius. This study provides a reference for the design and application of the spherical honeycomb sandwich structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]