Shear band propagation in honeycombs: numerical and experimental

Abstract

Purpose

Hexagonal honeycombs with meso-metric cell size show excellent load bearing and energy absorption potential, which make them attractive in many applications. However, owing to their bend-dominated structure, honeycombs are susceptible to deformation localization. The purpose of this study is to provide insight about shear band propagation in struts of 3D-printed honeycombs and its relation to the achieved macroscopic mechanical behavior.

Design/methodology/approach

Hexagonal honeycombs and unit cell models are 3D-printed by fused deposition modeling (FDM). The samples are exposed to compression loading and digital image correlation technique and finite element analyses are incorporated.

Findings

It is found that the strain contours, which are obtained by finite element, are in agreement with experimental measurements made by DIC. In addition, three stages of shear band propagation in struts of 3D-printed honeycombs are illustrated. Then the correlation between shear band propagation stages and the achieved macroscopic mechanical responses is discussed in detail.

Originality/value

For the first time, a hierarchical activation of different modes of shear band propagation in struts of a 3D-printed honeycomb is reported. This information can be of use for designing a new generation of honeycombs with tailor-made localization and energy absorption potential.

Citation

Goodarzi Hosseinabadi, H., Bagheri, R. and Altstädt, V. (2018), "Shear band propagation in honeycombs: numerical and experimental", Rapid Prototyping Journal, Vol. 24 No. 2, pp. 477-484. https://doi.org/10.1108/RPJ-06-2016-0098