Biomimetic Spiral-Reinforced Honeycomb for Integrated Energy Absorption Under Complex Loading Scenarios

Planar honeycomb structures, especially biomimetic hexagonal honeycombs, are widely used in energy-absorbing equipment because of their excellent out-of-plane deformation resistance. However, their significant mechanical anisotropy, manifested by the large discrepancy between out-of-plane and in-plane responses, greatly restricts their broader applications. Inspired by spiral-reinforced thin-walled biological tubular systems, such as animal tracheae and plant vessels, this study proposes a biomimetic reinforcement strategy by embedding spiral structures along the thin walls of planar honeycombs. To validate the feasibility of the proposed design, biomimetic honeycomb specimens were fabricated using 3D-printing technology and tested under compression along different loading directions. Furthermore, a numerical model validated against the experiments was developed to reveal the underlying enhancement mechanism. The results demonstrate that the proposed biomimetic honeycomb preserves the favorable out-of-plane performance of the conventional hexagonal honeycomb, while improving the in-plane energy absorption capacity by up to 70%. The biomimetic spiral reinforcements enable more effective load transfer under multidirectional loading, resulting in a more uniform plastic stress distribution over the entire structure and activating a larger deformation region for energy dissipation. The present work provides a bioinspired strategy for developing lightweight energy-absorbing structures for potential applications in aerospace, rail vehicles, marine engineering, and civil structures.