Mechanical and energy absorption behavior of an innovative high-performance auxetic structure

Abstract

Auxetic structures possess high energy absorption, especially under impact loads that are influenced by their negative Poisson’s ratio (NPR). This negative ratio is due to their specific microstructural designs. In this article, newly modified designs for an existing chiral auxetic structure have been proposed and their mechanical and energy absorption performances have been investigated. In the proposed designs, the geometry of slots in an available peanut-shaped auxetic structure has been modified and some extra masses have been removed to introduce innovative auxetic structures with higher NPRs, higher energy absorption, and lower structural weight. By performing finite element simulations in ABAQUS software, it has been found that the proposed modifications in the design of the available auxetic structure result in up to 7.3% and 76.6% increases in Poisson’s ratio and energy absorption respectively. The accuracy of simulations has also been confirmed by performing a comparison study with some available results of experimental tests.