Deformation of honeycomb cellular structures manufactured with Laser Engineered Net Shaping (LENS) technology under quasi-static loading: Experimental testing and simulation

The paper presents a methodology investigation of honeycomb cellular structures deformation process in quasi-static compression tests. Two honeycomb topologies with different elementary cells were designed and manufactured from Ti-6Al-4 V alloy powder with the use of Laser Engineered Net Shaping (LENS) system and compressed using a universal strength machine. To simulate the deformation process with LS-Dyna software, the mechanical properties of the material were assessed and correlated. An elasto-visco-plastic material model (Mat_Plasticity_With_Damage) was used for predicting the material behavior. The results of experimental tests and numerical simulations were compared. A reasonable agreement between deformation, failure and force histories was obtained. Additionally, both the topologies were compared for their energy absorption capabilities. The validated numerical modelling with the adopted constitutive model will be used in the further studies to analyze different cellular structures topologies subjected to dynamic loading.