Effect of plate lattice-filling on the compressive mechanical property of 3D-printed square honeycombs

In this paper, a novel plate lattice-filled square honeycomb (PLSH) is proposed in an attempt to improve the quasi-static compression performance and energy absorption of structure. Firstly, the quasi-static compression performance of the 3D-printed PLSH was analyzed through experimental investigation and finite element analysis. The results showed that the compressive strength and energy absorption capacity of the proposed PLSHs are higher than the sum of those of square honeycomb (SH) and plate lattices (PLs) which were tested individually. It can be seen that compressive strength per unit mass (Formula presented.) and energy absorption per unit mass (Formula presented.) by 15%–45% and 51%–151% relative to the SH, respectively, and 65.2%–582% and 78%–196% relative to the PLs, respectively. The strengthening mechanism is that the mutual constraint between the SH and PL stabilizes the buckling and alters the compressive deformation mode of both constituents, resulting in elevating compression performance and energy absorption capability of the PLSH.