Architected Cellular Structures with Enhanced Mechanical Properties: A Chemical Structure Formula‐Inspired Design

Two new honeycomb structures (NH‐1 and NH‐2) are designed by mimicking the chemical structural formulas of 18‐crown‐6 and a macrocycle. Theoretical models for the in‐plane elastic behavior of the new structures are developed via the energy‐based approach and then validated by experiments and numerical simulations. A full geometrical parameters study adopted reveals that the in‐plane mechanical behaviors of the newly developed honeycombs depend on the micro geometrical parameters. It is interesting to note that NH‐1 can achieve negative Poisson's ratio under specific geometrical parameters. In particular, these specific geometrical parameters transform NH‐1 into a novel reentrant honeycomb with an enhanced auxetic effect in the x direction compared to the common reentrant hexagonal honeycomb. Specifically, the negative Poisson's ratio can reach −5, demonstrating excellent designability of the NH‐1 structure. A finite element comparison of NH‐2 and honeycomb proposed by Lim et al. (LH) shows NH‐2 has a clear advantage in specific stiffness (four times higher in the x direction and five times higher in the y direction) than LH. When compared to the cross‐shaped honeycomb, the x directional specific stiffness of the two new honeycombs is significantly improved. Consequently, the excellent performance exhibited by two honeycombs confirms the feasibility of the chemical structure formula‐inspired design.