In-Plane Pure Shear Deformation of Cellular Materials with Novel Grip Design

Abstract

Cellular materials are popular due to their high specific strength, but their in-plane shear behavior is not well understood. Current experimental methods are limited due to the lack of pure shear loading as common arcan-style grips have not been adjusted for cellular materials. A significant concern is a mixture of shear loading with grip induced tension. While in bulk materials the tensile force can be assumed negligible, it has a significant impact on the deformation behavior of cellular materials. In this study, finite element modeling simulations were used to demonstrate that using a new sliding grip design reduced grip induced tension on cellular materials. Experimental studies were performed on honeycomb cellular materials with traditional and newlydeveloped grips to calculate and compare the shear strength and ductility of honeycomb cellular materials. The study concluded that traditional grips overestimate the shear strength of honeycomb cellular materials and honeycomb cellular materials in pure shear with limited grip induced tension has significantly lower strength and ductility due to the early formation of plastic hinges.