A wire-woven cellular metal: Part-I, optimal design for applications as sandwich core

Wire-woven Bulk Kagome (WBK) is a new truss type cellular metal fabricated by systematic assembling of helical wires in six directions. WBK looks promising with respect to morphology, fabrication cost, and raw materials. In this paper, first, the geometry and the effect of the geometry such as the curved shape of the struts, which compose the truss structure of WBK, are elaborated. Then, analytic solutions for the material properties of WBK and the maximum loads withstood by a WBK-cored sandwich panel under bending are derived. Design optimization is carried out in two ways: one is based on the weight of the sandwich panel, and the other is based on the slenderness ratio of the WBK core. The performance of the WBK is evaluated and compared with those of other periodic cellular metals. With designs fully optimized with respect to the first way mentioned, the WBK-cored panel outperformed the octet counter part. With a specified constraint on the core thickness, the WBK truss core panel performed as well as a honeycomb cored panel. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.