In-plane crushing response and energy absorption characteristics of metal honeycombs

The dynamic crushing response and energy absorption characteristics of triangular honeycombs under in-plane impact loading were numerically investigated by means of explicit dynamic finite element method in this paper. The effects of relative density, impact velocity and impact direction on the deformation modes, plateau stresses and specific energy absorption abilities of honeycombs were discussed in detail. Research results showed that except for the cell micro-structural parameters (e.g. edge length, edge thickness, expanding angles, etc.), the dynamic response characteristics of triangular honeycombs also depended on impact velocities and impact directions. Under the conditions that the relative density and impact velocity were all the same, the plateau stresses and energy absorption abilities of metal honeycombs in the Y direction were both higher than ones in the X direction. With the increase of impact velocity, the inertia effect played an important role in the dynamic crushing of metal honeycombs. And impact direction had great influence on plateau stresses and energy absorption abilities. These results will provide new guidance in the multi-objective optimization design of impact dynamic properties of cellular materials.