Investigation of different geometric structure parameter for honeycomb textile composites on their mechanical performanc

Textile honeycomb composites, with an array of hexagonal cells in the cross section, is a type of textile composites having the advantage of being light weight and energy absorbent over the solid composite materials. The aim of this research is to investigate the influence of the geometric parameters on textile honeycomb composites on their mechanical performances under low velocity impact, which can be used to help designer control over the textile honeycomb composites.;Four groups of textile honeycomb composites, involving 14 varieties, have been systematically created for the experimental analysis. The geometric parameters of the honeycomb composites, including the cell opening angle, cell size, cell wall length ratio and structural parameters such as composite thickness, composite volume density are studied for their influence on the honeycomb composites under low-velocity impact. Followed by experimental work, honeycomb composites with 12 varieties are modelled by finite element method (FEM) to further investigate the honeycomb structure performance under various loading condition including different impact energy (6J, 8.3J and 10J) and impactor shape (cylindrical and spherical).;The 3D honeycomb fabrics are successfully manufactured and converted into textile honeycomb composites. It was found through the experimental and finite element analysis (FEA) that changes in geometric and structural parameters of the textile honeycomb composites have noted influences on the energy absorption, force attenuation and damage process of the structure. The length ratio of cell wall and the cell opening angle are the most effective parameters for controlling the energy absorption of the composites and composites with medium cell sizes tend to have more reliable mechanical performances under various loading conditions. And it is also found in FEA that cylindrical impacts are more threatening to human beings than the ball shaped impact. The methodology has been established by using FEM to investigate the composites more systematically in the current study. This helps to provide a faster and economic design cycle for the honeycomb composites, which can substantially decease the time to take products from concept to the production.