Comparisons of equivalent and detailed models of metallic honeycomb core structures with in-plane thermal conductivities

Abstract

Equivalent laminate model of the metallic honeycomb structure is given in the present paper firstly. The effective thermal model of the honeycomb core is anisotropic, and both in-plane and thickness direction effective thermal conductivity are deduced using the Swann-Pittman model. The effective mechanical properties of the honeycomb core are determined using the mechanics of materials method, and the effective continuum properties are then used with classical laminate theory to construct an equivalent laminate plate to simulate the response of three-dimensional honeycomb core structure. Then the thermal and free vibration behaviors of the equivalent laminate plate are compared with that of detailed model of the honeycomb core plate using finite element method. Numerical results show that the equivalent model is in good agreement with the detailed model in heat transfer and modal analysis.