In-plane elastic moduli and plastic collapse strength of regular hexagonal honeycombs with dual imperfections

The in-plane elastic modulus, Poisson's ratio and plastic collapse strength of regular hexagonal honeycombs with dual imperfections of non-straight and variable-thickness cell edges were theoretically derived from a model of curved cell edges with Plateau borders. Finite element analyses (FEA) on the stiffness and strength of regular hexagonal honeycombs with dual imperfections were also performed and then compared to the theoretical modeling. Both analytical and numerical results indicate that the in-plane elastic moduli and plastic collapse strength of regular hexagonal honeycombs with dual imperfections depend on their relative density, the solid distribution in cell edges and the curvature of cell edges. Meanwhile, the effects of dual imperfections on the in-plane elastic moduli and plastic collapse strength of regular hexagonal honeycombs are more drastic as compared to those of each single imperfection. Also, it is found that the normalized in-plane elastic modulus and plastic collapse strength of regular hexagonal honeycombs with dual imperfections are approximately equal to the products of those with each single imperfection.     

A morphological elastic model of general hexagonal columnar structures

A general three-dimensional (3D) anisotropic hexagonal model of columnar structure with non-uniform strut morphology is developed. This model covers several types of cellular structure such as two-dimensional (2D) hexagonal and square honeycombs, and 3D hexagonal and rhombic cellular materials of rod-like columnar structure. The effective elastic constants are determined taking account of bending, axial, and shear deformations of the struts. Unlike the theoretical work of other investigators for 2D honeycombs, considering bending, axial and shearing deformations of struts, the present model not only produces transverse isotropy for regular hexagonal columnar structure but also provides a consistent Poisson's ratio when applied to a square honeycomb. The effect of tapered strut morphology on the elastic properties of cellular structures is investigated. For the general hexagonal columnar structures, the bending compliance is the dominant function for the in-plane elastic constants of 2D and 3D structures (excluding the in-plane shear modulus of rhombic structures) and the out-of-plane shear moduli of 3D structures, but the axial compliance is dominant for the in-plane shear modulus of 2D and 3D rhombic structures and the out-of-plane Young's modulus of 3D structures. For cellular materials with the same relative density, the presence of taper increases values of the effective Young's and shear moduli for which the bending compliance is dominant, but decreases those for which the axial compliance is dominant. It is found that the effective elastic properties of cellular materials are dependent not only on the relative density but also on strut morphology both in cross-section geometry and its variation along the strut length which the present model takes account of. These results illustrate the importance of the strut morphology in calculating the effective elastic properties of cellular materials.     

Elastic moduli and plastic collapse strength of hexagonal honeycombs with plateau borders

The theoretical analysis for the elastic moduli and plastic collapse strength of hexagonal honeycombs with Plateau borders is proposed and presented here. The variation of cell edge thickness in real honeycombs is taken into account in deriving their elastic moduli and plastic collapse strengths. A repeating element, composed of three cell edges connected at a vertex with Plateau borders of constant radius of curvature and width, is employed to calculate the elastic moduli and plastic collapse strength of hexagonal honeycombs. Results suggest that both the elastic moduli and plastic collapse strength of hexagonal honeycombs with Plateau borders depend on their relative density and the volume fraction of solid contained in the Plateau border region. Meanwhile, effects of solid distribution on the elastic moduli and plastic collapse strength of hexagonal honeycombs are investigated, providing a guideline for the optimal microstructure design of honeycombs.     

Elastic collapse of honeycombs under out-of-plane pressure

A theoretical scheme is developed to analyze the initial elastic buckling of hexagonal honeycombs with walls of equal or unequal thickness and of square or triangular honeycombs under out-of-plane pressure. The computing results obtained by using this scheme are in good agreement with experimental data.     

Effects of solid distribution on the elastic buckling of honeycombs

The elastic buckling strengths of honeycombs depend on their relative density, cell geometry and the elastic modulus of solid cell edges. In this study, we consider the effect of the distribution of solid between three cell edges and a vertex on elastic buckling using a semi-analytical integral-equation approach. At first, the geometry of three cell edges connected at a vertex with Plateau borders is analyzed and then employed to represent a repeating element for regular hexagonal honeycombs. The bending moments, rotational angle and the stiffness of a rotational spring corresponding to the constraint from inclined adjacent cell edges are derived for the vertical cell edge within the repeating element. Consequently, the elastic buckling strength of regular hexagonal honeycombs can be numerically obtained. Moreover, the effects of the distribution of the solid on the elastic buckling strengths of regular hexagonal honeycombs are presented and evaluated.     

Effects of defects on in-plane properties of periodic metal honeycombs

The effects of missing or fractured cell walls on in-plane effective elastic stiffness and initial yield strength of square and triangular cell metal honeycombs are investigated using finite element analysis. Due to the change of localized deformation mode, the in-plane properties of defected honeycombs can differ significantly from those of intact metal honeycombs, depending on cell type and stress state. First, the effect of the size of a statistical volume element of honeycomb cells with randomly removed cell walls is explored by using different numbers of cells with 5% of walls removed, subject to periodic boundary conditions. The size of a representative volume element (statistically homogeneous) is determined for each considered in-plane property. Next, the effective in-plane properties of square cell and triangular cell honeycombs are, respectively, calculated as a function of increasing number density of randomly removed cell walls. Finally, the sensitivities of axial compressive effective properties of these honeycombs to missing cell walls are compared with that of a previously analyzed hexagonal cell honeycomb. The results indicate that some in-plane properties sharply diminish with defect density, while others exhibit more gradual decay. In compression, the effective elastic stiffness and initial yield strength of triangular cell honeycombs are least sensitive to defects among those considered.     

A general constitutive relation for linear elastic foams

A three-dimensional linear elastic constitutive relation is formulated based on a representative unit cell of foam using elasticity theory and micromechanics homogenization scheme. The displacement and strain fields of the unit cell are obtained from elasticity theory and used to derive the macroscopic strain field defined on the outer surface of unit cell through homogenization scheme. By assuming a uniform macroscopic stress on the unit cell surface and the existence of strain energy potential, the constitutive relation of linear elastic foams is obtained. The newly derived constitutive relation is a function of mechanical property of solid constituent, the geometry of cell struts, and the porosity of foams and is able to characterize the anisotropic behavior of foams due to non-uniform strut geometry. The linear elastic response of open-celled foams with both low- and medium-relative densities can be studied using the derived constitutive relation. The effective elastic modulus for uniform strut geometry is reduced from the constitutive relation and agrees well with Gibson and Ashby's semi-empirical equation, Warren and Kraynik's, and Zhu's analytical models within relative density ranging from 0 to 0.35. For non-uniform strut geometry, the calculated effective elastic moduli in three axial directions are different and the material displays anisotropic behavior. The bulk modulus shows less dependence on the variation of the strut geometry. Poisson's ratios are also reduced from the compliance matrix.     

The effects of non-periodic microstructure and defects on the compressive strength of two-dimensional cellular solids

The utility of unit cell models that assume periodic microstructures may be limited when applied to cellular materials that have non-periodic microstructures. We analyzed the effects of non-periodic microstructure and defects on the compressive failure behavior of Voronoi honeycombs using finite element analysis. Our results indicate that the non-periodic arrangement of cell walls in random Voronoi honeycombs (with cells approximately uniform in size) results in higher strains in a small number of cell walls compared to periodic, hexagonal honeycombs. Consequently, the Voronoi honeycombs were approximately 30% weaker than periodic, hexagonal honeycombs of the same density. The strength difference between the Voronoi and periodic honeycombs depended slightly on density, due to density-dependent interactions between failure modes (i.e. plastic collapse and elastic buckling). Defects, introduced by removing cell walls at random locations, caused a sharp decrease in the effective mechanical properties of both Voronoi and periodic honeycombs (e.g. a 10% reduction in density due to defects caused a 60% reduction in the strength of Voronoi honeycombs). The sensitivity to defects was comparable for thin-walled, elastomeric honeycombs (relative density 0.015) and for thicker walled, plastic honeycombs (relative density 0.15). The properties degraded to zero when 35% of the cell walls were removed, consistent with the percolation limit for a two-dimensional network of hexagonal cells. When four or more adjacent cell walls were removed, the localized band of cell collapse passed through the defect site and the effective strength and modulus were reduced, indicating that even those defects which have a negligible effect on density can alter the failure pattern as well as the effective properties of honeycombs with cells of approximately equal size and strength.     

Effect of inclusions and holes on the stiffness and strength of honeycombs

A finite element study has been performed on the effects of holes and rigid inclusions on the elastic modulus and yield strength of regular honeycombs under biaxial loading. The focus is on honeycombs that have already been weakened by a small degree of geometrical imperfection, such as a random distribution of fractured cell walls, as these imperfect honeycombs resemble commercially available metallic foams. Hashin–Shtrikman lower and upper bounds and self-consistent estimates of elastic moduli are derived to provide reference solutions to the finite element calculations. It is found that the strength of an imperfect honeycomb is relatively insensitive to the presence of holes and inclusions, consistent with recent experimental observations on commercial aluminium alloy foams.     

Basic two-dimensional core types for sandwich structures

The mechanical characteristics of three types of core with two-dimensional isotropic patterns – triangular, hexagonal, and starcell – were studied as related to applications in sandwich structures. The Young's modulus, shear modulus, and Poisson's ratio were calculated for the three core types in the direction normal to the faces. The compressive buckling strength and shear buckling strength were calculated for the three core types by modeling each cell wall of the core as a plate under compressive or shear load. To verify this model, tests were conducted on scaled specimens to measure the compressive buckling strength of each core. The bending flexibilities of the three cores were also studied. Compliances for the three cores were measured using biaxial flexural tests. Tests were performed on each core type in which the deflection of a circular core sample loaded at its center was measured. The three isotropic core patterns exhibited distinct characteristics. In the direction normal to the faces, all three cores had the same stiffness. However, the triangular core had lower compressive and shear buckling strengths than the other two core types. The starcell core exhibited high flexibility compared to the other cores, indicating a potential for application in curved sandwich structures.     

铀表面铝镀层热应力的有限元分析

对铀表面磁控溅射沉积铝镀层的热应力进行了热弹塑性有限元分析。结果表明：镀层内的热应力较大,达到铝的屈服强度,镀层界面两侧存在明显应力梯度,试样侧边存在由于边缘效应引起的应力分布不均匀性,至侧边约4倍镀层厚度处,应力分布不均匀性逐渐消失;沉积温度升高,界面塑性应变明显增大,镀层弹性模量和泊松比对镀层界面热应力和塑性应变的影响较小,而屈服强度的影响较大,减薄镀层厚度有利于改善镀层界面的热应力和塑性应变。     

Transport properties in fibrous elastic rhombic composite with imperfect contact condition

In this contribution, effective elastic moduli are obtained by means of the asymptotic homogenization method (AHM), for oblique two-phase fibrous periodic composites with two models (spring and interphase) of imperfect contact conditions. This work is an extension of previous reported results, where only perfect contact for elastic or piezoelectric composites for square and hexagonal arrays were considered. The constituents of the composites exhibit transversely isotropic properties. A doubly periodic parallelogram array of cylindrical inclusions under longitudinal shear is considered. The behavior of the shear elastic coefficient for different geometry arrays related to the angle of the cell is studied. As validation of the present method, some numerical examples and comparisons with theoretical and experimental results verified that the present model is efficient for the analysis of composites with presence of imperfect interface and parallelogram cell. The effect of the arrangement of the cells on the shear effective property is observed. The present method can provide benchmark results for other numerical and approximate methods.     

组元材料对三元复合管道性能的影响

用有限元数值模拟法研究了由弹性材料构成的三元复合管道的力学性能。利用ANSYS软件的结构应力分析程序,模拟了复合管道界面处的一些特点,分析了组元材料参数对三元复合管道力学性能的影响。结果表明：合理调整中间层陶瓷材料的弹性模量和泊松比,可以降低层间材料的界面应力,从而提高三元复合管道的使用寿命和安全可靠性。     

A two-level optimization procedure for material characterization of composites using two symmetric angle-ply beams

A two-level optimization procedure for determining elastic constants E₁, E₂, G₁₂, and ν₁₂ of laminated composite materials using measured axial and lateral strains of two symmetric angle-ply beams with different fiber angles subjected to three-point-bending testing is presented. In the first-level optimization process, the theoretically and experimentally predicted axial and lateral strains of a [(45°/−45°)₆]_s beam are used to construct the strain discrepancy function which is a measure of the sum of the squared differences between the experimental and theoretical predictions of the axial and lateral strains. The identification of the material constants is then formulated as a constrained minimization problem in which the best estimates of shear modulus and Poisson's ratio of the beam are determined to make the strain discrepancy function a global minimum. In the second-level optimization process, shear modulus and Poisson's ratio determined in the first level of optimization are kept constant and Young's moduli of the second angle-ply beam with fiber angles different from 45° are identified by minimizing the strain discrepancy function established at this level of optimization. The suitability of the proposed procedure for material characterization of composite materials has been demonstrated by means of a number of examples.     

OUT-OF-PLANE COMPRESSIVE PROPERTIES OF HEXAGONAL PAPER HONEYCOMBS

The compressive behaviour of paper honeycombs is studied by means of an experimental analysis. Experiment results show how geometry aspects of hexagonal paper honeycombs,e.g. the height of paper honeycomb,the thickness and length of honeycomb cell-wall,the drawing ratio of hexagonal honeycomb,affect the compressive properties of the paper honeycombs. It is in good agreement with the theory model. The constraint factor K of the critical buckling stress is mainly determined by the length of honeycomb cell-wall. It can be described as K=1.54 for B type paper honeycombs and K=3.32 for D type paper honeycombs. The plateau stress is the power exponent function of the thickness to length ratio of honeycomb cell-wall,and the experiment results show that the constant is 13.2 and the power exponent is 1.77. The research results can be used to characterize and improve efficiently the compressive properties of paper honeycombs.     

Size effects in ductile cellular solids. Part I: modeling

In the mechanical testing of metallic foams, an important issue is the effect of the specimen size, relative to the cell size, on the measured properties. Here we analyze size effects for the modulus and strength of regular, hexagonal honeycombs under uniaxial and shear loadings. Size effects for indentation of a honeycomb are evaluated using finite element analysis. Finally, the results for honeycombs are extrapolated to foams. The results are compared with data for metallic foams in the following, companion paper.     

Probing elastic modulus and depth of bottom-supported inclusions in model tissues using piezoelectric cantilevers

We have experimentally investigated the depth sensitivity limit of a piezoelectric cantilever tissue elastic modulus sensor and simultaneously determined the elastic modulus and the depth of a tumor directly. Using model tissues consisting of bottom-supported modeling clay inclusions of various depths in a gelatin matrix, we empirically determined that the depth sensitivity limit of a piezoelectric cantilever sensor was twice the linear dimension of the indentation area (or the cantilever width). Knowing the depth sensitivity limit of the individual cantilever sensor as input and treating a model tissue that has the gelatin matrix on top and the modeling clay inclusion at the bottom as two springs in series, we showed that the elastic moduli and depths of the hard inclusions could be simultaneously determined with the elastic modulus profiles measured by two cantilevers with different widths as input.     

Behavior of intact and damaged honeycombs: a finite element study

The Young’s moduli, the elastic buckling strength and the plastic collapse strength of regular honeycombs with defects consisting of missing cells in the structure were analyzed using the finite element method. The behavior of intact honeycombs was first analyzed; the results of this numerical study are consistent with those of previous analyses. The effect of single, isolated defects of varying sizes and the effect of the separation distance between two defects on the elastic and plastic behaviors were then analyzed. Single, isolated defects reduce the modulus and strength. The elastic buckling strength of a honeycomb with a defect normalized by the intact strength decreases directly with the ratio of the minimum net cross-sectional area normalized by the intact cross-sectional area. The plastic collapse strength of a honeycomb with a defect normalized by the intact strength decreases less rapidly than the ratio of the minimum net cross-sectional area normalized by the intact cross-sectional area. Two closely spaced, separate defects interact to reduce the elastic buckling strength of a honeycomb; at a separation distance of about ten cells separate defects act independently. The separation distance between two defects has little effect on the Young’s modulus or the plastic collapse strength of a honeycomb. The finite element analysis allows localization behavior to be studied: we find that the localization strain decreases with increasing .     

负泊松比蜂窝芯非线性等效弹性模量研究

设计并加工了一种负泊松比蜂窝结构,采用柔性悬臂梁模型,对蜂窝壁板大变形条件下的弯曲变形进行分析,给出了蜂窝芯面内等效弹性模量理论计算公式。通过有限元仿真和力学实验的对比分析,验证了非线性理论计算公式的正确性。得出了等效弹性模量的非线性特性及相同方向和不同方向弹性模量的变化特性。研究结果为柔性蜂窝芯层的工程实用化提供了参考。     

Relating age and micro-architecture with apparent-level elastic constants: a micro-finite element study of female cortical bone from the anterior femoral midshaft

Homogenized elastic properties are often assumed for macro-finite element (FE) models used in orthopaedic biomechanics. The accuracy of material property assignments may have a strong effect on the ability of these models to make accurate predictions. For cortical bone, most macro-scale FE models assume isotropic elastic material behaviour and do not include variation of material properties due to bone micro-architecture. The first aim of the present study was to evaluate the variation of apparent-level (homogenized) orthotropic elastic constants of cortical bone with age and indices of bone micro-architecture. Considerable age-dependent differences in porosity were noted across the cortical thickness in previous research. The second aim of the study was to quantify the resulting differences in elastic constants between the periosteum and endosteum. Specimens were taken from the anterior femoral midshaft of 27 female donors (age 53.4 +/- 23.6 years) and micro-FE (gFE) analysis was used to derive orthotropic elastic constants. The variation of orthotropic elastic constants (Young's moduli, shear moduli, and Poisson's ratios) with various cortical bone micro-architectural indices was investigated. The ratio of canal volume to tissue volume, Ca.V/TV, analogous to porosity, was found to be the strongest predictor (r2(ave) = 0.958) of the elastic constants. Age was less predictive (r2(ave) = 0.385) than Ca.V/TV. Elastic anisotropy increased with increasing Ca.V/TV, leading to lower elastic moduli in the transverse, typically less frequently loaded, directions. Increased Ca.V/TV led to a more substantial reduction in elastic constants at the endosteal aspect than at the periosteal aspect. The results are expected to be most applicable in similar midshaft locations of long bones; specific analysis of other sites would be necessary to evaluate elastic properties elsewhere. It was concluded that Ca.V/TV was the most predictive of cortical bone elastic constants and that considerable periosteal-endosteal variations in these constants can develop with bone loss.