Parametric study of the energy absorption capacity of 3D-printed continuous glass fiber reinforced polymer cruciform honeycomb structure

In this paper, the energy absorption capability of a novel cruciform composite lattice structure was evaluated through the simulation of compression tests. For this purpose, several test samples of Polylactic acid cellular reinforced with continuous glass fibers were prepared for compression testing using the additive manufacturing method of material extrusion. Using a conventional path design for material extrusion, multiple debonding is probable to be occurred at the joint regions of adjacent cells. Therefore, an innovative printing path design was proposed for the cruciform lattice structure. Afterwards, quasi-static compression tests were performed to evaluate the energy absorption behaviour of this structure. A finite element model based on local material property degradation was then developed to verify the experimental test and extend the virtual test method. Accordingly, different combinations of unit cells’ dimensions using the design of the experiment were numerically proposed to obtain the optimal configuration in terms of the total absorbed energy. Having brilliant energy absorption properties, the studied cruciform lattice with its optimized unit cell dimensions can be used as an energy absorber in crashworthiness applications. Finally, a cellular structure will be suitable with optimal behavior in crush load efficiency and high energy absorption.