Dynamic behavior of staggered triangular honeycomb cores under in-plane crushing loadings

Abstract A reliable finite element model was employed to investigate the effects of configuration parameters and impact velocity on the in-plane deformation mode and dynamic plateau stress of staggered triangular honeycomb cores at impact velocities 3–300 m s–1 under in-plane crushing loadings. At different impact velocities, ‘>’-, ‘<’-shaped, and ‘I’-shaped deformation modes appear in turn. The effects of configuration parameters on the deformation modes are discussed qualitatively. When all configuration parameters are kept constant, the mean in-plane dynamic plateau stress is proportional to the square of impact velocity; for a given impact velocity, the mean in-plane dynamic plateau stress is related to the ratio of cell-wall thickness to edge length by power laws and to the expanding angle by complicated curves. Mean in-plane dynamic plateau stresses are expressed by empirical equations in terms of configuration parameters and impact velocity based on our simulation results.