Creep-buckling of cellular solids

Honeycombs and foams, loaded at low temperatures (T < 0.3 T-m) deform by elastic deformation, elastic buckling and plastic collapse of their cell wall. At more elevated temperatures; creep contributes to the deformation, which becomes time dependant. Deformation by the creep-bending of cell walls has been analysed in some detail, but deformation by creep-buckling has not. In this paper we analyse for the first time the collapse of cellular structures by creep-buckling, deriving the critical load and time required for the buckling event to commence. (C) 2000 Acta Metallurgica Inc. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.