Study on the Cell Magnification Equivalent Method in Out-of-Plane Compression Simulations of Aluminum Honeycomb

The large scale and long calculation times are unavoidable problems in modeling honeycomb structures with large sizes and dense cells. The cell magnification equivalent is the main method to solve those problems. This study finds that honeycomb structures with the same thickness-to-length ratios have the same mechanical properties and energy absorption characteristics. The improved equivalent finite element models of honeycomb structures with the same thickness-to-length ratios were established and validated by experiments. Based on the validated finite element model of the equivalent honeycomb structures, the out-of-plane compression behaviors of honeycomb structures were analyzed by LS-DYNA software. The results show that the performance of honeycomb structures is not equivalent before and after cell magnification. Thus, the cell magnification results were further subjected to CORA (correlation analysis) to determine the magnification time and prove the accuracy of the cell magnification time through drop-weight impact tests. In addition, a first-order decay exponential function (ExpDec1) for predicting cell magnification time was obtained by analyzing the relationship between the cell wall length and the cell magnification time.

Automated summary

This study establishes and validates equivalent finite element models of honeycomb structures with the same thickness-to-length ratios, and finds that they have the same mechanical properties and energy absorption characteristics. Moreover, the magnification time is determined through CORA analysis and drop-weight impact tests, and an exponential function for predicting the magnification time is obtained.