New Honeycomb-Inspired Design Protects Against Impacts

Conventional honeycomb structures are insular panels of repeating, often hexagonal-shaped cells in a range of sizes and configurations. The shortcoming of conventional honeycombs is that they lose their full protective properties after only one impact due to plastic buckling of the material. This means that after absorbing the force of one compression, they do not return to their original shape.

NS honeycombs, on the other hand, bounce back.

The researchers devised a cell geometry capable of elastic buckling, giving NS honeycomb structures the resilience to recover their energy-absorbing shape and properties after impact.

The cell dimensions can be customized to withstand different amounts of force, translating to a variety of versatile applications. The current 3.5-inch lab prototype, for example, has a force threshold level of 200 newtons -- capable of absorbing the energy of a 100 mph fastball in 0.03 seconds.

Source: sciencedaily.comAdded: 22 June 2015