In-plane effective elastic properties of a novel cellular core for sandwich structures

Within this paper an analytical model is presented for the calculation of the in-plane effective elastic properties E_x and E_y of a novel cellular structure which is proposed to be used as a core in sandwich structures. The proposed cellular core may represent a less expensive and easily to produce alternative to the already known cellular structures used for the construction of sandwich structures. The developed analytical model is validated through experimental tests. The results obtained by analyzing the theoretical model show a good agreement with the tests. The structure topology is studied using a parameterized unit cell and it is shown the way in which the in-plane stiffness depends on the geometric parameters and relative density of the core.