In-plane dynamic crushing and energy absorption capacity of self-similar hierarchical honeycombs

Abstract

The in-plane dynamic crushing behavior and energy absorption capacity of self-similar hierarchical honeycombs under different impact velocities are numerically studied using ANSYS/LS-DYNA. First, the hierarchical honeycomb models with uniform cell-wall thickness are constructed by replacing every three-edge structure nodes of a regular honeycomb with smaller self-similar hexagons of the same orientation. The respective influences of hierarchical parameters, bulk materials, and impact velocities on the macro-/micro-deformation behaviors, the dynamic strength, and the specific absorbed energy of hierarchical honeycombs are explored in detail. The results show that the crushing strengths and energy-absorbing capacities of honeycombs significantly improve when adding the hierarchy into conventional cellular structures. The variation of hierarchical parameter changes the local dynamic evolution of stress waves, which further results in different macro-/micro-deformation properties. Through the proper choice of hierarchical parameters and bulk materials, the optimal crushing strength and the maximum absorbing energy could be obtained.