Static and dynamic properties of high-density metal honeycombs

Metal honeycombs are commonly used to absorb energy in applications involving impact because of their high-energy capacity to weight ratio. The energy capacity of a material will be affected by any strain-rate effect in the material; thus knowledge of this property is necessary for design purposes. The materials studied in this work were a thick-walled aluminum and stainless-steel honeycomb. A method of testing the specimens in a state approximating uniaxial strain was developed for the large compressive deformations required with honeycombs, and used For both static and dynamic tests. For the dynamic rests, a gas gun was used to propel projectiles into fixed specimens of the test materials, and measurements of the force at the fixed ends of the specimens were used to determine the energy absorption properties of the materials. Initial strain rates to about 2000/s were obtained. Both materials showed a strain-rate effect. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.