Experimental and numerical investigation of zero Poisson's ratio structures achieved by topological design and 3D printing of SCF/PA

Metamaterials have been attracting increasing attention for their unique properties derived from configured structures comprised of specifically designed periodic unit cells. This study presents a method to achieve topological structures with effective zero Poisson's ratio (ZPR) integrating topological structures with negative Poisson's ratio (NPR) and positive Poisson's ratio (PPR). The topologically designed structures were fabricated using 3D printing with short carbon fibre reinforced polyamide (SCF/PA). Finite element analysis was developed to simulate the compression behaviours of the structures that were experimentally characterised with the aid of digital image correlation. The results demonstrated the unique behaviours of topologically designed structures with the desired NPR, PPR and ZPR. Negative strain is predominant in NPR specimens while positive strain is significant in PPR specimens. In contrast, ZPR specimens present mitigated negative and positive strain with insignificant lateral deformation. The features and mechanisms discussed in this study can provide valuable data for metamaterials analysis and novel structural design.