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The elastic and geometrical properties of micro- and nano-structured hierarchical random irregular honeycombs

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Abstract

All the five independent elastic properties/constants of micro- and nano-structured hierarchical and self-similar random irregular honeycombs with different degrees of cell regularity are obtained by analysis and computer simulation in this paper. Cell wall bending, stretching, and transverse shearing are the main deformation mechanisms of hierarchical honeycombs. The strain gradient effects at the micro-meter scale, and the surface elasticity and initial stress effects at the nano-meter scale are incorporated into all the deformation mechanisms in the analysis and finite element simulations. The results show that the elastic properties of hierarchical random irregular honeycombs strongly depend on the thickness of the first-order cell walls if it is at the micro-meter scale, and that if the thickness of the first-order cell walls is at the nano-meter scale, the elastic properties of hierarchical random irregular honeycombs are not only size-dependent, but are also tunable and controllable over large ranges. In addition, the geometrical properties of nano-structured hierarchical random irregular honeycombs are also tunable and controllable.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Engineering, Cardiff University, Cardiff, CF24 3AA, UK

    H. X. Zhu, H. C. Zhang & D. Kennedy

  2. National Key Laboratory of Combustion, Flow and Thermo-Structure, The 41st Institute of the Forth Academy of CASC, Xi’an, 710025, China

    J. F. You

  3. CNM & IJRCNB Centers, Changchun University of Science and Technology, Changchun, China

    Z. B. Wang

  4. State Key Laboratory of Composites, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai, 200240, China

    T. X. Fan & D. Zhang

Authors
  1. H. X. Zhu
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  2. H. C. Zhang
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  3. J. F. You
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  4. D. Kennedy
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  5. Z. B. Wang
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  6. T. X. Fan
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  7. D. Zhang
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Correspondence to H. X. Zhu.

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Zhu, H.X., Zhang, H.C., You, J.F. et al. The elastic and geometrical properties of micro- and nano-structured hierarchical random irregular honeycombs. J Mater Sci 49, 5690–5702 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-014-8288-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-014-8288-y

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