On the Fabrication, Characterization and Mechanical Properties of Melt-stretched Stochastic Honeycombs

This thesis presents a new type of polypropylene (PP) cellular material fabricated through a simple melt-stretching process. Stochastic honeycombs have an open cell, random honeycomb structure, with webs oriented perpendicular to built-in skins. This process has the advantage that, for example, PP pellets can be turned into a sandwich panel in one step. It was demonstrated that despite the randomness in the web structure, the out-of-plane compressive strength of stochastic honeycombs was repeatable, and exceeded that of commercial PP foams and was comparable to commercial PP honeycombs. The key material properties required to produce an this architecture were shown to be a high melt strength and a high viscosity, branched polymer. The viscosity was shown to affect the total length of the webs in cross-section and the relative partitioning of material through the skin, transition region and webs. Web thickness was affected by the areal density of the polymer during fabrication. Mechanical testing methods were adapted from ASTM standards for honeycombs, and the fabrication method was advanced from a manual to a machine controlled process. Stochastic honeycombs were shown to buckle elastically, plastically, and fracture after the peak strength. Elastic and plastic buckling were dominant at lower densities, and plastic buckling and fracture at higher densities. A thin-plate buckling model for the strength of stochastic honeycombs was developed and verified experimentally. The crystallinity of the polymer affected the tensile strength and stiffness, having a linear effect on the buckling strength. The architecture was composed of webs bound on both sides and webs bound on one side and free on the other. A greater fraction of bound webs increased the strength of the structure in the buckling model. A fabrication study showed that melt-stretching the polymer at higher strain rates increased the connectivity and fraction of bound webs. Additionally, higher density led to a less connected structure. Energy absorption could be improved if the drop in stress from the peak to valley strength was minimized. Higher melt-stretching rates during fabrication increased the energy absorbed, and higher viscosity polymers minimized the drop from peak to valley, also increasing the absorbed energy.Ph.D