Quasi-static in-plane compression of zig-zag folded metamaterials at large plastic strains

The work aims to study the large, plastic deformation and energy absorption characteristics of zig-zag folded metamaterials, BCHn, under quasi-static in-plane compression, using an analytical method and numerical analysis. In analytical modelling, the zig-zag folded materials are assumed as rigid origami in they direction. The BCHn materials are considered as cellular materials with various topologies defined by the characteristic geometric parameters (a, b, h; alpha, gamma(0); n) when the strength at large plastic strains and densification strain are defined. The obtained analytical relationships between material topology and material strength provide an easy way to assess the energy absorption of BCHn materials with various geometric parameters. Particular attention is paid to the compression response of BCH2 and BCH3 materials, and comparisons are made with Miura-ori based materials having the same parameters (a, b, h; alpha, gamma(0);). It is found that the zig-zag folded materials outperform the Miura-ori based material in terms of energy absorption. Besides, tunable geometric parameters of the BCHn zig-zag folded materials allow better tailoring of their mechanical properties. Comparisons of the energy absorption efficiency between zig-zag folded materials and hexagonal honeycomb materials show that the parameters of the BCHn materials can be selected to obtain metamaterials with superior energy absorption characteristics. Finite element models of zig-zag folded materials are built using ABAQUS/Explicit and numerical simulations of quasistatic compression are carried out to verify the analytical results. The observed agreement in terms of force and deformation confirmed that the analytical models are valid, and the analytical predictions are reliable.

Automated summary

This work investigates the large, plastic deformation and energy absorption characteristics of zig-zag folded metamaterials BCHn under quasi-static compression, using analytical and numerical methods. The zig-zag folded materials outperform Miura-ori based materials in energy absorption, and their tunable geometric parameters allow better tailoring of mechanical properties. Comparisons with hexagonal honeycomb materials show that selecting parameters of the BCHn materials can result in superior energy absorption characteristics.