Energy absorption behaviour and shape change effects of 3D printed polyurethane hexagonal honeycombs

Abstract

Honeycombs have been used in a wide range of repeatable energy-absorbing elements due to their light weight and high energy absorption capacity. In the engineering environment, honeycombs will produce a shape change effect and rebound under multiple loading and unloading, so it is of great importance to investigate the energy-absorbing properties of honeycombs under the shape change effect for the application of honeycombs. In this study, the deformation process and energy absorption properties of 3D printed honeycombs under multiple loading were obtained through multiple quasi-static compression tests. On this basis, the coupling between shape change effects and honeycomb energy absorption is revealed. It is shown that the number of compressions does not affect the four-stage force-displacement curve characteristics of the honeycombs, but only the energy absorption efficiency of the honeycombs. There is an inverse relationship between the resilience of honeycombs and the energy absorption capacity of honeycombs, and the change of honeycomb stiffness under repeated compression is the direct cause of this relationship. The research results provide a reference for the application of honeycombs in the field of repetitive energy absorption.