Mechanical Properties of Re-Entrant Hybrid Honeycomb Structures for Morphing Wings

Abstract

The exceptional energy absorption, deformability, and tuneable Poisson’s ratio properties of negative Poisson’s ratio (NPR) honeycomb biomimetic structures make them highly suitable for applications in aerospace, medical, and acoustic stealth industries. The present study proposes a re-entrant hybrid honeycomb (REHH) structure comprising a re-entrant octagonal unit cell and a re-entrant hexagonal unit cell. Theoretical models of the in-plane elastic modulus and Poisson’s ratio are established based on beam theory, and these models are validated through finite element (FE) simulations and tensile experiments conducted on the REHH samples. The influence of the cell geometry parameters on the in-plane elastic behaviours is investigated. The results indicate that the NPR performance of the REHH structure exhibits superior deformation capability compared with the four-point star hybrid honeycomb (FSHH) structure. The experimental REHH structure samples exhibit significant tensile displacement capabilities in the x-direction.