Compressive behaviors of bio-inspired helicoidal sandwich structure with variable helicoidal angles

Organisms like crustaceans possess a unique Bouligand-type helicoidal fiber structure, which provides exceptional damage tolerance and impact resistance. This study uses ABAQUS/Explicit to simulate and assess the compressive behavior of biomimetic helicoidal sandwich structures with honeycomb (HHS), grid (HGS), and triangular (HTS) cross sections under axial quasi-static compression. The helicoidal angle is varied from 0° to 360° to systematically examine the mechanical response. The findings are as follows: A helicoidal angle of 60° significantly increases the peak force in HHSs, HGSs, and HTSs, while helicoidal angles ranging from 270° to 360° greatly enhance the energy absorption efficiency of HHSs. The helicoidal structure effectively reduces buckling deformation by distributing stress along the helicoidal line, creating a synergistic effect throughout the structure. These results offer valuable insights for developing new lightweight, high-strength and energy-absorbing sandwich structures.