Abstract
Energy absorption performance has been a long-pursued research topic in designing desired materials and structures subject to external dynamic loading. Inspired by natural bio-structures, herein, we develop both numerical and theoretical models to analyze the energy absorption behaviors of Weaire, Floret, and Kagome-shaped thin-walled structures. We demonstrate that these bio-inspired structures possess superior energy absorption capabilities compared to the traditional thin-walled structures, with the specific energy absorption about 44% higher than the traditional honeycomb. The developed mechanical model captures the fundamental characteristics of the bio-inspired honeycomb, and the mean crushing force in all three structures is accurately predicted. Results indicate that although the basic energy absorption and deformation mode remain the same, varied geometry design and the corresponding material distribution can further boost the energy absorption of the structure, providing a much broader design space for the next-generation impact energy absorption structures and systems.
Highlights
Originated from biological evolution, natural materials offer a source of inspiration for incredibly efficient designs of structural applications [1]
Representative force–displacement curves together with the deformation modes of the three structures are presented in Fig. 2, where three stages that are analogous to traditional honeycombs can be observed, including an elastic stage followed by an initial peak, a plateau region, and a densification stage
We comprehensively investigated the dynamic behaviors of three types of bio-inspired honeycombs under out-of-plane crushing, including Kelvin, Weaire, and floret honeycombs
Summary
Originated from biological evolution, natural materials offer a source of inspiration for incredibly efficient designs of structural applications [1]. If a certain bio-structure has a function of impact resistance for protection, we can intuitively expect a good energy absorption capability of the structure toward the common scenarios It is not uncommon, for example, for cellular structures in plants and animals that are known to support great weights, like bone [5], to contain a strong outer wall and a low density or entirely vacant central chamber such as grass [6]. For example, for cellular structures in plants and animals that are known to support great weights, like bone [5], to contain a strong outer wall and a low density or entirely vacant central chamber such as grass [6] These evolutions are not the same, they perform similar purposes, and as such much can be gleaned from their relationships
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