Mechanical Properties of a Novel Zero Poisson's Ratio Honeycomb

In this paper, a novel honeycomb is proposed by embedding a rib into every cell of the existing zero Poisson's ratio (ZPR) configuration, semi re‐entrant honeycomb (SRH). Analytical model is developed to investigate the in‐plane mechanical properties of the new honeycomb, and the resulting theoretical expressions are compared with the experimental tests and numerical results obtained from two different finite element (FE) models (3D beam model and 3D solid model), leading to a good correlation. FE analysis, analytical modeling, and experimental tests of the new honeycomb show that it can achieve ZPR effect in two principal directions. For further studies, parameters analyses are carried out to explore the dependence of the in‐plane mechanical properties versus the geometric parameters. The results show that bending is the dominated deformation model when the new honeycomb is compressed along the x‐ direction, while stretch controlled in the y‐ directional compression. It is remarkable that the new proposed honeycomb features superior specific stiffness and more flexible in mechanical properties tailoring compared to the other ZPR honeycombs in the literature. Given these benefits, the new honeycomb may be promising in some practical applications.