Numerical and experimental analyses on series aluminum honeycomb structures under quasi-static load

In order to design high quality multi-level aluminum honeycomb buffer structures and provide theoretical basis on designing energy-absorber structures for space landing device, numerical and experimental studies were carried out on series aluminum honeycomb structures under quasi-static load. Patran parameters design language(PCL) was applied to make an analysis program, which will provide convenience to automatically accommodate the parametrized FE model to suit the cases of different lengthes and foil thicknesses of honeycomb cells. Comparisons between experimental and theoretical analysis results show that the numerical model can provide accurately the mean stress and strain limit of the honeycomb as well as the loads subjected on honeycomb during the whole deformation process. Numerical simulation has the advantage of low cost and high precision compared with experiments. The results also show that series honeycomb structures can absorb more energy than single honeycomb structure.