Collapse of honeycomb cell as a result of buckling or plastic hinges, analytical, numerical and experimental study

Abstract

The honeycomb structure collapse during energy absorption and deformation is considered as one of the important subjects for researchers. In this paper, a combined analytical, numerical and experimental analysis on the collapse load of hexagonal aluminum honeycombs due to buckling or plastic collapse of the unit cells under flatwise compressive loading is performed. To analyze the collapse load, some analytical equations are derived for buckling and forming plastic hinges using the frame element. The amounts of these loads are measured for a single-row aluminum honeycomb structure, and the smallest one is selected as collapse load. The results show that the main cause of structure collapse is the formation of plastic hinges. To evaluate the analytical results and to propose a valid numerical simulation method, the quasi-static pressure test is performed. Furthermore, the structure collapse is also simulated by Abaqus software. The maximum difference between the numerical and experimental collapse load is 2.5%. Moreover, the deformed shape of the structure is very similar to the experimental one. The numerical simulation method and the proposed analytical relations can be used to analyze the collapse in other metal honeycomb structures.