Design and Development of 3D Printed Re-entrant Auxetic Structures for High Energy

Absorption
Abdul Rehman1, Salman Khan1, Arsalan Sohail1, AbdUllah1, Hafiz Saud1, Fahad Zahid1, and M.
Qasim Zafar1*.
1
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering (FME), Ghulam Ishaq Khan (GIK) Institute of
Engineering Sciences and Technology, Swabi, 23460, Pakistan.
* Corresponding: muhammadqasimzafar@giki.edu.pk
† Presented at the Design and Development of 3D Printed Re-entrant Auxetic Structures
for High Energy Absorption, CUST, Islamabad on 24 August 2023.
Abstract: Auxetic structures have a negative Poisson's ratio, which implies they expand
laterally when stretched longitudinally, in contrast to most materials. They are utilized in
automobile and aerospace industries due to their remarkable characteristics under bending,
shear, and compression stresses. A novel auxetic structure has been designed and
developed and evaluate its mechanical behavior under compression loading. 3D printed
auxetic structures are manufactured by using poly-lactic acid materials using fused
deposition modeling. To characterize the auxetic behavior of the structure, a compression
test was performed. It was observed that the structure deformed and collapsed row-wise,
and it started at the center of the structure with buckling.
Keywords: Auxetic structures, Poisson’s ratio, re-entrant, stress, and strain, additive
manufacturing, poly-Latic acid (PLA).
1. Introduction
An auxetic structure is a material that exhibits a negative Poisson's ratio (ν<0), which
means that when stretched in one direction, it expands in perpendicular directions rather
than contracting [1]. This contrasts with most materials, which have a positive Poisson's
ratio and contract in perpendicular directions when stretched as shown in Figure 1.
Auxetic structures are widely used in the automotive, aerospace, sports, and marine
industries. Auxetic structures are ideal in automotive applications for components such
as automobile frames that require high compressive strength and stiffness. [2]. Fused
deposition modeling (FDM) is well suited for inexpensively producing lightweight
auxetic structures out of different polymers. This method provides cost-effective
manufacturing techniques for generating auxetic structures with varying material
compositions and customizing them to specific application requirements [3].
The research focused on the design, manufacturing, and mechanical behavior of auxetic
structures employing additive manufacturing, specifically 3D printing. Anisotropy, caused
by the layer-by-layer fabrication process, has been taken into consideration to ensure the
mechanical properties of printed samples are not influenced. The deformation behavior of
the auxetic structure was investigated using a compression test and studies the row-wise
collapsing of the structure.
2. Materials and Methods
The polylactic acid (PLA) poly material was used for the manufacturing of the re-entrant
auxetic structure. The computer-aided design (CAD) model of the auxetic structure was
designed using Creo parametric software. The Creamware slicer software was used for the
generation of G-codes and setting the parameters. The printing condition included printing
speed (20 mm/s), layer thickness (0.2 mm), layer height (0.2 mm), and infill density (20%).
The manufactured parts were then tested for compression test using Instron (Model 5567)
at a constant crosshead speed of 2 mm/min.

Figure 1. Different deformation modes of conventional and auxetic materials [4].

Table 1. The auxetic structure parameters used in the study.

Parameters Dimensions
θ 75°
H 10mm
L 7.5mm
t 1mm

3. Result and Discussion

The auxetic structure is the combination of unit cells. They expand when they stretch and
contract when they compress. Various types of auxetic structures were designed such as
re-entrant, chiral, lozenge, square grid, rotating rectangle, triangular shapes, and others [5].
These designs provide adaptability and flexibility in adjusting the mechanical behavior of
auxetic structures to individual application requirements. The deformation and collapsing
behavior of the re-entrant auxetic structure under compression loading is shown in Figure
2. It was seen from the figure that the structure buckling took place and the deformation
occurred at the side. Initially, the load is bearded by the deformed row and then decreased
due to their collapsing. After that, a second row started deforming the load and then
collapse, and so on. Figure 2 illustrates that the load is born by the auxetic structure that
took place (point a) and deformed. After that the collapsing of the structure took place and
the load decreased (point b) and so on.
 4.0 g

3.5

3.0 c
e
2.5

Load (kN)
2.0 a

1.5 f
d
1.0
b
0.5

0.0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
Defelction (mm)

Figure 2. The compression test results show the deformation and collapsing behavior.

Figure 3. The deformation and collapsing of an auxetic structure after every 30 sec.
 4. Conclusion
A novel auxetic structure was designed and manufactured using 3D printing and PLA
materials were used for its fabrication. The energy absorption characteristics of a modified
re-entrant auxetic structure manufactured using the fused filament fabrication technology
were experimentally examined. The mechanical behavior of the auxetic structure was
evaluated by using a compression test. It was observed that the buckling of the structure
took place however, the row-wise deformation and collapsing occurred. The energy
absorption properties of an auxetic structure are primarily determined by its plateau region,
which is defined as the area under the stress-strain curve from the yield point to the onset
of densification, the larger the plateau area, the greater the energy absorption capacity.
Author Contributions: “Conceptualization, S.K., and M.Q.Z.; methodology, S.K.;
software, S.K.; validation, M.Q.Z., F.Z., and A.R.; formal analysis, A.U.; investigation,
A.R., A.U, S.K; resources, M.Q.Z.; data curation, S.K.; writing—original draft
preparation, S.K., M.Q.Z.; writing—review and editing, M.Q.Z.; visualization, S.K.;
supervision, M.Q.Z.; project administration, M.Q.Z. All authors have read and agreed to
the published version of the manuscript.”
Funding: Not applicable.
Institutional Review Board Statement: Not applicable.
Informed Consent Statement: Not applicable.
Conflicts of Interest: No conflict of interest.
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