Mechanical properties of 3D double-U auxetic structures

Abstract Auxetic materials or structures, especially 3D cellular lattice architectures with negative Poisson's ratio (NPR) have attracted great attention due to their unprecedented mechanical behaviors and promising applications in recent years. Many 3D auxetic architected cellular materials have been manufactured and characterized with polymers and metals using additive manufacturing technology as well as some fibre reinforced polymers (FRP) composites via assembly method, however metal 3D printed auxetic structures with high-quality are rarely reported and FRP composites using assembly method contain a variety of defects which result in a knock-down effect on mechanical properties. Auxetic structures made from polymers are normally of low stiffness and strength and FRP composites are of low toughness and impact resistance, which causes limitations on their structural and functional applications. If rationally designed structures can be made from high-performance metal materials the specific stiffness and strength of which are much higher than polymers, their specific stiffness and strength can be significantly increased which will make them more suitable for various potential applications. This paper presents novel 3D double-U hierarchical structures (DUHs) based on double-V hierarchical structures (DVHs) with tunable Poisson's ratio and Young's modulus by tailoring the geometry parameters. Experimental, numerical and theoretical results show that DUHs have smooth geometry that can reduce manufacturing damage and stress concentration under elastic loading. Another advantage of DUHs is that the curved configurations have enhanced auxetic behavior and higher static collapse stress than DVHs under crushing. The advanced 3D printing technology and those excellent mechanical properties of 3D DUHs meet the requirements of structural and functional applications.