A novel star-shaped honeycomb with enhanced energy absorption

To obtain a structure with excellent energy-absorbing ability, based on the traditional star-shaped honeycomb (SSH), a crossed star-shaped honeycomb (CSSH) was designed via evolving the horizontal and vertical walls of the honeycomb into crossed inclined walls. In this paper, the Poisson's ratio and Young's modulus of honeycomb under axial load are theoretically deduced, and a method is proposed to evaluate the deformation stability of honeycomb with the maximum deviation of unilateral horizontal strain (MDUHS). Numerical simulation is employed to verify the theoretical solution, and the in-plane mechanical properties and deformation behavior of CSSH are investigated in detail. The numerical simulation method in Abaqus software was verified by using quasi-static crush test data of 3D printed CSSH specimens. It is found that by changing the inclined angle θ2, CSSH can evolve into a positive Poisson's ratio(PPR), zero Poisson's ratio(ZPR), or negative Poisson's ratio structure(NPR), and Young's modulus is very sensitive to the difference between the opened angle θ1 and the inclined angle θ2; increasing θ1 or decreasing θ2 not only significantly improves the energy absorption capacity of the honeycomb but also facilitates the generation of a more pronounced double plateau region on the stress-strain curve; by changing the length of the crossed inclined wall, three improved CSSHs(ICSSH) can be obtained. Among them, by adjusting the length of the crossed inclined wall in the horizontal direction, the structure with the superior energy absorption capacity can be obtained. The structure with excellent deformation stability can be obtained through adjusting the length of the crossed inclined wall in the vertical direction. Results show that the performance of CSSH is better than that of SSH, with a specific energy absorption (SEA) of 245% higher than that of SSH. This work is expected to guide the design of new auxetic honeycombs with better energy absorption properties, and can also provide a reference for the optimization of honeycombs.