An elastic analysis of a honeycomb structure with negative Poisson's ratio

This paper presents a novel honeycomb structure that exhibits a negative Poisson's ratio (NPR). In contrast to other NPR honeycomb structures studied in the past, the new structure can be easily fabricated using conventional technology and materials on a large scale of production with a low cost. The geometry of the structure is first described, and then an elastic analysis based on standard beam theory is carried out to establish the relation of its Young's modulus with relevant geometrical parameters and material properties. The effects of the geometrical parameters in non-dimensional forms on the Young's modulus of the structure are discussed. The compressive tests were performed on samples of the structure made with the same aluminum alloy but with different geometrical parameters to verify the theoretical analysis. The results obtained from both the theoretical calculations and experiments show that the proposed NPR honeycomb structure has a very obvious NPR behavior. Moreover, its elastic modulus is significantly affected by its geometrical parameters, and can be optimized for specific applications through the design and control of honeycomb geometry parameters. (paper)