Mechanical properties of the novel spider-web bionic hierarchical honeycomb under out-of-plane crushing

To improve the impact resistance of the honeycomb, a self-similar spider-web hierarchical structure is introduced by adding smaller hexagons to the centers of the primitive cells in the underlying hexagonal network and connecting the vertices of the smaller hexagons to the center points of the cell walls via straight beams. The hierarchical structure is introduced into the regular hexagonal honeycomb (RH) cells, and some novel hierarchical bio-honeycombs are proposed for the development of innovative hierarchical bio-honeycombs. Compression simulation was performed to validate the finite element model. Subsequently, a finite element model of the bio-honeycomb was developed to investigate its out-of-plane crashworthiness. The results show that the introduction of bionic cells and the RH cell walls produces significant interaction effects, with more severe plastic deformation at their intersections and the formation of more folded flaps in the cell walls. The effect of geometric parameters on the crashworthiness of the novel biomimetic bio-honeycomb structures is further discussed. It is shown that smaller bionic honeycomb pore sizes are beneficial for improving the efficiency of material utilization.