Hierarchical honeycombs with tailorable properties

We investigated the mechanical behavior of two-dimensional hierarchical honeycomb structures using analytical, numerical and experimental methods. Hierarchical honeycombs were constructed by replacing every three-edge vertex of a regular hexagonal lattice with a smaller hexagon. Repeating this process builds a fractal-appearing structure. The resulting isotropic in-plane elastic properties (effective elastic modulus and Poisson’s ratio) of this structure are controlled by the dimension ratios for different hierarchical orders. Hierarchical honeycombs of first and second order can be up to 2.0 and 3.5 times stiffer than regular honeycomb at the same mass (i.e., same overall average density). The Poisson’s ratio varies from nearly 1.0 (when planar ‘bulk’ modulus is considerably greater than Young’s modulus, so the structure acts ‘incompressible’ for most loadings) to 0.28, depending on the dimension ratios. The work provides insight into the role of structural organization and hierarchy in regulating the mechanical behavior of materials, and new opportunities for developing low-weight cellular structures with tailorable properties.     

Elastic properties of chiral,anti-chiral,and hierarchical honeycombs:A simple energy-based approach

The effects of two geometric refinement strategies widespread in natural structures, chirality and self-similar hierarchy, on the in-plane elastic response of two-dimensional honeycombs were studied systematically. Simple closed-form expressions were derived for the elastic moduli of several chiral, antichiral, and hierarchical honeycombs with hexagon and square based networks. Finite element analysis was employed to validate the analytical estimates of the elastic moduli. The results were also compared with the numerical and experimental data available in the literature. We found that introducing a hierarchical refinement increases the Young's modulus of hexagon based honeycombs while decreases their shear modulus. For square based honeycombs, hierarchy increases the shear modulus while decreasing their Young's modulus. Introducing chirality was shown to always decrease the Young's modulus and Poisson's ratio of the structure. However, chirality remains the only route to auxeticity. In particular, we found that anti-tetra-chiral structures were capable of simultaneously exhibiting anisotropy, auxeticity,and remarkably low shear modulus as the magnitude of the chirality of the unit cell increases.     

Effective elastic properties of flexible chiral honeycomb cores including geometrically nonlinear effects

Flexible chiral honeycomb cores generally exhibit nonlinear elastic properties in response to large geometric deformation, which are suited for the design of morphing aerospace structures. However, owing to their complex structure, it is standard to replace the actual core structure with a homogenized core material presenting reasonably equivalent elastic properties in an effort to increase the speed and efficiency of analyzing the mechanical properties of chiral honeycomb sandwich structures. As such, a convenient and efficient method is required to evaluate the effective elastic properties of flexible chiral honeycomb cores under conditions of large deformation. The present work develops an analytical expression for the effective elastic modulus based on a deformable cantilever beam under large deformation. Firstly, Euler–Bernoulli beam theory and micropolar theory are used to analyze the deformation characteristics of chiral honeycombs, and to calculate the effective elastic modulus under small deformation. On that basis, the expression for the effective elastic modulus is improved by including the stretching deformation of the chiral honeycomb structure for a unit cell under conditions of large deformation. The effective elastic moduli calculated by the respective analytical expressions are compared with the results of finite element analysis. The results indicate that the analytical expression obtained under consideration of the geometric nonlinearity is more suitable than the linear expressions for flexible chiral honeycomb cores under conditions of high strain and low elastic modulus.     

金属多级类蜂窝的压溃行为研究

通过实验和数值模拟方法系统研究了单胞壁开孔金属多级类蜂窝与双胞壁开孔金属多级类蜂窝的压溃行为. 重点分析了试件尺寸、开孔位置、孔偏距和孔梯度等因素对多级类蜂窝力学性能的影响. 结果表明,多级类蜂窝的压溃过程可分为3个阶段:弹性变形、屈曲变形以及密实;单胞壁开孔多级类蜂窝的压溃过程趋向于渐近内凹压溃,而双胞壁开孔多级类蜂窝趋向于轴向压溃;试件尺寸对多级类蜂窝的力学行为有明显的影响,当胞元数达到一定数目时,其力学性能几乎与蜂窝胞元数无关. 单胞壁开孔多级类蜂窝的峰值应力大于双胞壁开孔多级类蜂窝的峰值应力,但其平均压溃应力小于双胞壁开孔多级类蜂窝的平均压溃应力;与传统蜂窝相比,蜂窝胞壁开孔设计降低了蜂窝材料的比吸能;孔偏距的存在导致单胞壁开孔多级类蜂窝的峰值应力降低,但随着孔偏距的增加其平均压溃应力呈先减低后增加趋势;多梯度孔设计对多级类蜂窝材料的力学性能有重要影响,与均匀孔多级类蜂窝相比,正梯度孔分布设计降低了多级类蜂窝峰值应力,但提高了其平均压溃应力;多梯度孔分布设计对多级类蜂窝的峰值应力和平均压溃应力影响不大.      

曲壁蜂窝夹层板的振动特性研究

曲壁蜂窝具有负刚度特性,可以在大变形过程中吸收能量、抗冲击,并且在冲击过后可以自我恢复而不像传统蜂窝被压溃。本文将曲梁构成的负刚度蜂窝作为芯层,建立夹层板的动力学模型;推导出了曲壁负刚度蜂窝胞元的等效弹性参数,将其周期性排列为蜂窝芯,应用Reddy高阶剪切变形理论、Von-Karman大变形关系和Hamilton原理推导了负刚度蜂窝夹层板的非线性动力学方程;应用Navier法计算了四边简支边界条件下的固有频率。并利用有限元软件ABAQUS建立模型,计算固有频率,与理论计算结果进行比较,结果显示二者的计算结果具有较好的一致性,验证了芯层等效弹性参数及模型的有效性。探讨了在蜂窝胞元具有较高吸能情形下,夹层板在不同芯层厚度、不同芯厚比以及不同胞元曲壁厚度时的固有频率的变化特性。     

The effect of cell irregularity on the high strain compression of 2D Voronoi honeycombs

The in-plane compression of low-density irregular Voronoi honeycombs with periodic boundary conditions has been simulated to engineering strains of 0.6 using finite element analysis. Different degrees of geometric irregularity in the honeycomb cells, as quantified using a regularity parameter, have been employed. The stress–strain predictions reveal that, for a fixed relative density, a more irregular honeycomb has a higher tangential modulus at low strain but supports a lower compressive stress at higher strain (above approximately 0.04) when compared with a more regular honeycomb. A combined ‘springs in parallel’ and ‘springs in series’ model has also been compared quantitatively with the simulation stress–strain results, the relative importance of the ‘springs in series’ mechanism having been found to increase with the irregularity of the honeycomb and, in many cases, with the applied compressive strain. In addition, the dependency of the Poisson’s ratio, the maximum bending strain in the cell walls, and the mean junction rotation upon the applied compressive strain have also been determined for a range of honeycomb irregularities.     

A nonlinear mechanics model of bio-inspired hierarchical lattice materials consisting of horseshoe microstructures

Development of advanced synthetic materials that can mimic the mechanical properties of non-mineralized soft biological materials has important implications in a wide range of technologies. Hierarchical lattice materials constructed with horseshoe microstructures belong to this class of bio-inspired synthetic materials, where the mechanical responses can be tailored to match the nonlinear J-shaped stress–strain curves of human skins. The underlying relations between the J-shaped stress–strain curves and their microstructure geometry are essential in designing such systems for targeted applications. Here, a theoretical model of this type of hierarchical lattice material is developed by combining a finite deformation constitutive relation of the building block (i.e., horseshoe microstructure), with the analyses of equilibrium and deformation compatibility in the periodical lattices. The nonlinear J-shaped stress–strain curves and Poisson ratios predicted by this model agree very well with results of finite element analyses (FEA) and experiment. Based on this model, analytic solutions were obtained for some key mechanical quantities, e.g., elastic modulus, Poisson ratio, peak modulus, and critical strain around which the tangent modulus increases rapidly. A negative Poisson effect is revealed in the hierarchical lattice with triangular topology, as opposed to a positive Poisson effect in hierarchical lattices with Kagome and honeycomb topologies. The lattice topology is also found to have a strong influence on the stress–strain curve. For the three isotropic lattice topologies (triangular, Kagome and honeycomb), the hierarchical triangular lattice material renders the sharpest transition in the stress–strain curve and relative high stretchability, given the same porosity and arc angle of horseshoe microstructure. Furthermore, a demonstrative example illustrates the utility of the developed model in the rapid optimization of hierarchical lattice materials for reproducing the desired stress–strain curves of human skins. This study provides theoretical guidelines for future designs of soft bio-mimetic materials with hierarchical lattice constructions.     

关于蜂窝芯体面外等效剪切模量的讨论

对于六边形蜂窝芯体,其面内等效参数具有确定的解析式,便于应用;相比之下,对于面外等效剪切模量,现有工作只能给出其上下限,由于没有确定的取值,给工程计算带来了困扰。为克服这一矛盾,本文通过Y型蜂窝胞元,针对薄面板的情况,重新分析了芯材的面外等效剪切模量。针对直壁板与斜壁板厚度为1:1和2:1的情况,给出了近似的弹性力学解答,并由此确定出面外等效剪切模量的上限。本方法所确定的剪切模量的上限与文献给出的剪切模量的下限是相同的,从而使该模量也具有确定的解析表达式,方便了数值计算和分析。试验数据和有限元数值分析均验证了本文结论的正确性。     

正交各向异性Kagome蜂窝材料宏观等效力学性能

由于微结构的布局和尺寸的方向性,人造和天然的蜂窝材料都会不同程度呈现各向异性,其中正交各向异性的蜂窝材料较为常见.该文采用桁架模型推导了正交各向异性Kagome单胞蜂窝材料等效刚度和强度的解析表达式,给出了初始屈服函数和近似弹性屈曲强度,讨论了等效刚度与各向异性率和相对密度的关系.等效刚度的解析结果与单胞壁杆采用梁单元建模的刚架模型均匀化结果进行比较,结果令人满意.需要说明的是这类"组合蜂窝"材料具有多功能性和潜在的可设计性,正在受到人们关注.     

In-plane crushing behavior and energy absorption design of composite honeycombs

Theoretical analysis and numerical simulation methods were used to study the in-plane crushing behavior of single-cell structures and regular and composite honeycombs. Square, hexagonal, and circular honeycombs were selected as honeycomb layers to establish composite honeycomb models in the form of composite structures and realize the complementary advantages of honeycombs with type I and type II structures. The effects of honeycomb layer arrangement, plastic collapse strength, relative density, and crushing velocity on the deformation mode, plateau stress, load uniformity, and energy absorption performance of the composite honeycombs were mainly considered. A semi-empirical formula for plateau stress and energy absorption rate per unit mass for the composite honeycombs was developed. The results showed that the arrangement mode of honeycomb layers is an important factor that affects their mechanical properties. Appropriately selecting the arrangement of honeycomb layers and the proportion of honeycomb layers with different structures in a composite honeycomb can effectively improve its load uniformity and control the magnitude of plateau stress and energy absorption capacity.     

胞孔构型对金属蜂窝动态力学性能的影响机理

采用ANSYS/LS-DYNA有限元研究了具有不同胞孔构型和排列方式的金属蜂窝材料在面内冲击荷载下的力学性能。在蜂窝的相对密度和冲击速度保持恒定的情况下,比较了它们的变形模式、动态承载力和能量吸收性能。结果表明,不同的胞孔构型导致在蜂窝压垮过程中胞壁的受力状态不同,从而影响蜂窝的宏观力学性能。根据胞壁的应力状态,可将蜂窝分为膜力主导蜂窝和弯曲主导蜂窝2大类。研究结果显示,蜂窝吸收的能量绝大部分转化为变形所需的内能,并且膜力主导蜂窝的内能占总能量的百分比更大。胞壁的屈曲导致膜力主导蜂窝的应力应变曲线呈现较大的波动。膜力主导蜂窝在变形过程中其胞壁会耗散更多的内能,从而比弯曲主导蜂窝具有更高的动态承载力和能量吸收能力。     

负泊松比蜂窝材料的动力学响应及能量吸收特性

针对传统正方形蜂窝,通过用更小的双向内凹结构胞元替代原蜂窝材料的结构节点,得到了一种具有负泊松比特性的节点层级蜂窝材料模型。利用显式动力有限元方法,研究了冲击荷载作用下该负泊松比蜂窝结构的动力学响应及能量吸收特性。研究结果表明,除了冲击速度和相对密度,负泊松比蜂窝材料的动力学性能亦取决于胞元微结构。与正方形蜂窝相比,该负泊松比层级蜂窝材料的动态承载能力和能量吸收能力明显增强。在中低速冲击下,试件表现为拉胀材料明显的"颈缩"现象,并展示出负泊松比材料独特的平台应力增强效应。基于能量吸收效率方法和一维冲击波理论,给出了负泊松比蜂窝材料的密实应变和动态平台应力的经验公式,以预测该蜂窝材料的动态承载能力。本文的研究将为负泊松比多胞材料冲击动力学性能的多目标优化设计提供新的设计思路。     

增强六手臂缺失支柱手性拉胀超材料力学性能理论研究

前期研究工作中, 基于有限元分析, 作者发展了一种在大变形范围内具有可调恒定负泊松比的新型增强六手臂缺失支柱手性拉胀超材料. 为了揭示微观结构?力学性能关系, 并进一步指导超材料目标参数设计, 本文在小变形框架下基于能量法建立了表征该拉胀材料等效泊松比和弹性模量的理论模型. 增强六手臂缺失支柱手性拉胀材料由“Z”型手臂元件组成. “Z”型手臂可以被假设为两端简支的欧拉?伯努利梁. 因此, 本文首先推导了两端受集中力和力偶的任意形状欧拉?伯努利梁的应变能. 然后, 考虑平衡条件和变形协调条件进一步给出了材料等效泊松比和弹性模量的理论表达式. 研究表明只有“Z”型梁的内外手臂比为2:1时, 理论表达式才有简洁的形式. 为了更好地利用所推导的理论表达, 基于理论推导, 本文开发了MATLAT图形用户界面 (GUI). 在GUI中输入可描述该超材料几何形状的独立几何参数, 即可直接获取其等效泊松比和弹性模量. 最后, 基于理论结果, 系统讨论了超材料微结构几何参数对其等效力学性能的影响, 并将理论解与有限元计算结果进行了对比. 结果表明, 可以通过调控微结构几何参数获取大范围的目标力学性能.      

梯度蜂窝面外动态压缩力学行为与吸能特性研究

蜂窝材料具有优异的抗冲击吸能特性。为进一步提高蜂窝材料的比吸能与压缩力效率,提出了一种几何参数或材料参数沿厚度方向梯度渐变的蜂窝材料模型,并针对六边形蜂窝构型研究了胞元壁厚和屈服强度梯度变化的蜂窝材料在面外动态压缩载荷下的力学行为与吸能特性。研究结果表明,通过调控梯度变化的指数,胞元壁厚或母体材料屈服强度的梯度设计均可有效降低初始峰值应力,并使蜂窝材料的比吸能和压缩力效率同时增大。研究结果可为蜂窝材料的防撞性优化设计提供新的思路。     

Stiffness and strength of hierarchical polycrystalline materials with imperfect interfaces

In this study we investigate the effect of imperfect (not perfectly bonded) interfaces on the stiffness and strength of hierarchical polycrystalline materials. As a case study we consider a honeycomb cellular polycrystal used for drilling and cutting tools. The conclusions of the analysis are, however, general and applicable to any material with structural hierarchy. Regarding the stiffness, generalized expressions for the Voigt and Reuss estimates of the bounds to the effective elastic modulus of heterogeneous materials are derived. The generalizations regard two aspects that are not included in the standard Reuss and Voigt estimates. The first novelty consists in considering finite thickness interfaces between the constituents undergoing damage up to final debonding. The second generalization consists of interfaces not perpendicular or parallel to the loading direction, i.e., when isostress or isostrain conditions are not satisfied. In this case, approximate expressions for the effective elastic modulus are obtained by performing a computational homogenization approach. In the second part of the paper, the homogenized response of a representative volume element (RVE) of the honeycomb cellular polycrystalline material with one or two levels of hierarchy is numerically investigated. This is put forward by using the cohesive zone model (CZM) for finite thickness interfaces recently proposed by the authors and implemented in the finite element program FEAP. From tensile tests we find that the interface nonlinearity significantly contributes to the deformability of the material. Increasing the number of hierarchical levels, the deformability increases. The RVE is tested in two different directions and, due to different orientations of the interfaces and Mixed Mode deformation, anisotropy in stiffness and strength is observed. Stiffness anisotropy is amplified by increasing the number of hierarchical levels. Finally, the interaction between interfaces at different hierarchical levels is numerically characterized. A condition for scale separation, which corresponds to the independence of the material tensile strength from the properties of the interfaces in the second level, is established. When this condition is fulfilled, the material microstructure at the second level can be efficiently replaced by an effective homogeneous continuum with a homogenized stress–strain response. From the engineering point of view, the proposed criterion of scale separation suggests how to design the optimal microstructure of a hierarchical level to maximize the material tensile strength. An interpretation of this phenomenon according to the concept of flaw tolerance is finally presented.     

Dynamic crushing and energy absorption of regular,irregular and functionally graded cellular structures

The in-plane dynamic crushing of two dimensional honeycombs with both regular hexagonal and irregular arrangements was investigated using detailed finite element models. The energy absorption of honeycombs made of a linear elastic-perfectly plastic material with constant and functionally graded density were estimated up to large crushing strains. Our numerical simulations showed three distinct crushing modes for honeycombs with a constant relative density: quasi-static, transition and dynamic. Moreover, irregular cellular structures showed to have energy absorption similar to their counterpart regular honeycombs of same relative density and mass. To study the dynamic crushing of functionally graded cellular structures, a density gradient in the direction of crushing was introduced in the computational models by a gradual change of the cell wall thickness. Decreasing the relative density in the direction of crushing was shown to enhance the energy absorption of honeycombs at early stages of crushing. The study provides new insight into the behavior of engineered and biological cellular materials, and could be used to develop novel energy absorbent structures.     

零泊松比手风琴蜂窝等效模量

柔性蒙皮是变形机翼和风力机叶片的关键组成部分。一维变形的柔性蒙皮不仅要求其支撑结构具有良好的面内变形和面外承载能力,还需要具有零泊松比特性。手风琴蜂窝具有零泊松比特性,可用作一维变形柔性蒙皮支撑。为全面分析其面内外弹性变形特性,综合考虑结构的内力弯矩、轴力和剪力,通过卡氏第二定理对其x向等效弹性模量和x-y面内等效剪切模量进行了推导;利用最小余能原理和最小势能原理确定了x-z面内的等效剪切模量;此外还推导了其y和z向的等效弹性模量以及y-z面内的等效剪切模量;然后通过ANSYS有限元仿真对等效模量理论公式进行了验证;最后将本文理论模型与现有模型进行了比较。结果表明,理论公式和有限元仿真吻合较好,在结构设计时采用较大的斜梁高度系数h和斜梁间距系数g,较小的厚度系数t以及较大的竖直梁厚度系数η,有望获得具有较小面内刚度和较大面外刚度的手风琴蜂窝结构。该结果可用于手风琴蜂窝面内外等效模量的快速预测,为一维变形柔性蒙皮的结构设计提供相应的参考。此外,本文理论模型相比传统模型更为精确且具有更加广泛的应用范围。     

具有负泊松比效应蜂窝材料的面内冲击动力学性能

基于显式动力有限元ANSYS/LS-DYNA,研究了面内冲击作用下具有负泊松比效应蜂窝材料的 动态冲击性能。在保证胞元壁长和壁厚不变的前提下,通过改变胞元扩张角,建立了内凹六边形蜂窝模型。 具体讨论了胞元扩张角和冲击速度对蜂窝材料面内冲击变形和能量吸收能力的影响。研究发现,在冲击载荷 作用下,内凹蜂窝材料的面内冲击性能依赖于胞元扩张角。胞元扩张角的绝对值越大,冲击端的平台应力越 高。随着冲击速度的提高,蜂窝材料表现出更强的能量吸收能力。     

SYMPLECTIC ANALYSIS FOR WAVE PROPAGATION OF HIERARCHICAL HONEYCOMB STRUCTURES

Wave propagation in two-dimensional hierarchical honeycomb structures with twoorder hierarchy is investigated by using the symplectic algorithm. By applying the variational principle to the dual variables, the wave propagation problem is transformed into a two-dimensional symplectic eigenvalue problem. The band gaps and spatial filtering phenomena are examined to find the stop bands and directional stop bands. Special attention is directed to the effects of the relative density and the length ratio on the band gaps and phase constant surfaces. This work provides new opportunities for designing hierarchical honeycomb structures in sound insulation applications.     

Influence of the spatial variation of Poisson’s ratio upon the elastic field in nonhomogeneous axisymmetric bodies

The effect of a nonconstant Poisson’s ratio upon the elastic field in functionally graded axisymmetric solids is analyzed. Both of the elastic coefficients, i.e. Young’s modulus and Poisson’s ratio, are permitted to vary in the radial direction. These elastic coefficients are considered to be functions of composition and are related on this basis. This allows a closed form solution for the stress function to be obtained. Two cases are discussed in this investigation: first, both Young’s modulus and Poisson’s ratio are allowed to vary across the radius and the effect of spatial variation of Poisson’s ratio upon the maximum radial displacement is investigated; secondly, Young’s modulus is taken as constant and the change in the maximum hoop stress resulting from a variable Poisson’s ratio is calculated.