Mechanics of Materials 152 (2021) 103661

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Mechanics of Materials
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/mechmat

New concept of carbon fiber reinforced composite 3D auxetic lattice

structures based on stretching-dominated cells
Ying Gao a, Zhengong Zhou a, Hong Hu b, Jian Xiong a, *
a
Center for Composite Materials and Structures, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150001, China
b
Institute of Textiles and Clothing, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, China

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: A new concept of 3D auxetic lattice structures with high stiffness is proposed in this paper. Correspondingly, a
Composite feasible method for rapidly fabricating the proposed structures with high-performance continuous carbon fiber
Auxetic reinforced polymer (CFRP) composite is exploited. Theoretical models for predicting the homogenized elastic
Negative Poisson’s ratio
properties of the representative structure along all principal axes, including the Young’s moduli, Poisson’s ratios
Lattice structure
Mechanical properties
and shear moduli, are developed. Based on the models, directional dependence of structural homogenized elastic
properties is investigated in detail. The compressive elastic behaviors of the 3D auxetic lattice structures fabri­
cated with high-performance continuous carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) composite are further inves­
tigated in a combination of numerical analysis and experiments. Our results suggest that the new concept of 3D
auxetic lattice structures are very suitable for uniaxial loading and can be great candidates where excellent load-
bearing capacity and obvious negative Poisson’s ratio effects are simultaneously desired. Coupled with the
proposed efficient fabrication process, our efforts may help to promote the 3D auxetic lattice structures to be
widely used in a variety of applications.

1. Introduction
The emergence of new materials (Xu et al., 2018; Duan et al., 2018)
has, over the last few decades, not only brought about a profound impact
on scientific research but also provided a new solution to break down
particular engineering limitations. Correspondingly, auxetic materials,
which exhibit negative Poisson’s ratio behavior, have attracted exten­
sive interest of researchers due to their unconventional properties that
could potentially lead to novel applications (Yu et al., 2018). Based on
various inherent superior mechanical and physical properties of auxetic
materials (Alderson et al., 2010), a myriad of smart and functional de­
vices, including biomedical devices (Liu et al., 2018; Hamzehei et al.,
2020), piezoelectric sensors (Jiang et al., 2018) and protective equip­
ment, have been invented.
Ever since Lakes et al. (1987) first introduced a polymeric foam with
negative Poisson’s ratio in 1987, various artificial auxetic materials,
ranging from molecular to macroscopic levels and based on different
deformation mechanisms, have been designed and fabricated. Apart
from polymeric foams, auxetic materials also come in the form of
metallic foams (Bianchi et al., 2010), ordered cellular structures (Chen
et al., 2013; Lu, Z. X., 2017), fibrous composites (Miller et al., 2009),
yarns (Chen et al., 2019), and textiles (Ge et al., 2013). Among them,
ordered cellular structures (Ren et al., 2018b; Hu et al., 2019) have been
widely used for auxetic design owing to their obvious negative Poisson’s
ratio effect and excellent designability (Liu et al., 2017; Wei et al., 2018;
Wu et al., 2019). Zhang et al. (2019), for example, proposed a 2D
bistable cellular mechanical metamaterial comprising of periodically
distributed elliptical holes. By varying the geometrical parameters of the
holes, the structure can be monostable and exhibit negative Poisson’s
ratio. To overcome manufacturing difficulty and stress concentrations in
traditional star-shaped auxetic structures, Wang et al. (2017) proposed a
class of smoothed petal-shaped auxetic structures and performed iso­
geometric shape optimization to improve the structural performance.
The significant advancement of the 2D auxetic cellular structures that
comprised periodic lattice trusses is mirrored in the large number of
scientific literature, which covers various aspects of their design, char­
acterization and evaluation (Qiao et al., 2015; Hou et al., 2016; Zhong
et al., 2019). In recent years, the rapid development of additive
manufacturing technologies for the preparation of complex structures
has triggered a trend to extend the research of auxetic lattice structures
from 2D to 3D (Yang et al., 2015). Wang (2018) developed an optimi­
zation formulation for designing auxetic materials with programmable

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: jx@hit.edu.cn (J. Xiong).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mechmat.2020.103661
Received 7 August 2020; Received in revised form 9 November 2020; Accepted 11 November 2020
Available online 13 November 2020
0167-6636/© 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Y. Gao et al.
constant negative Poisson’s ratios over large strain intervals using to­
pology optimization. Accordingly, two sets of 3D auxetic lattice archi­
tectures were created by imposing different symmetries on the unit cell.
Fu et al. (2018) introduced a new thought for configuring 3D auxetic
lattice structures based on the rotation mechanism of chiral honey­
combs. The structural homogenized elastic properties of the auxetic
lattices along the principal axes were characterized in combination with
theoretical predictions and numerical studies. The efforts to fabricate
metal 3D auxetic lattice structures with good quality have led to the
development of two fabrication techniques, namely interlocking as­
sembly (Wang et al., 2016) and combined 3D printing investment
casting (Xue et al., 2018). Separately, a key areas of progress has
stemmed from using advanced composite materials to achieve weight
reduction of auxetic lattice structures (Wang et al., 2018).
Despite the progress made thus far, the current state of research
about 3D auxetic lattice structures is still very much in its embryonic
stage, when compared to achievements already made for 2D structures.
Two key challenges that have been impeding the development and
application of 3D auxetic lattice structures are the slow and costly
processes associated with the current fabrication techniques (Ren et al.,
2018a), and the poor structural load-bearing capacity (Lakes, 1993).
Indeed, the research on auxetic materials over the last few decades has
particularly been concentrated on achieving enhanced negative Pois­
son’s ratio behavior rather than improving load-bearing capacity. Crit­
ical drawback of poor load-bearing capacity of traditional 3D auxetic
Fig. 1. Schematics of the new concept of 3D auxetic lattice structures extended from typical 2D ones whose deformation is mainly governed by the stretch­
ing mechanisms.
2
Mechanics of Materials 152 (2021) 103661
lattice structures has been the limitations for them to be applied where
negative Poisson ratio behavior and excellent load-bearing capacity are
simultaneously desired. Limited efforts to address the issue have
included topology reconfiguration of traditional 3D auxetic lattice
structures introduced by Li et al. (2017) and Chen et al. (2017).
Although the method results in significant enhancement of structural
stiffness along the principal axes, the stiffness of the simple enhanced
structure along off-axial direction remains virtually unchanged. This
implies that the structural system is not stable, thus, not suitable for
load-bearing applications. Cabras and Brun (2016) have proposed a
novel body-centered cubic lattice structure with excellent omnidirec­
tional stiffness. However, the presence of hinges used to join the slender
cross-shaped elements makes the fabrication of the lattice structure
virtually impossible, not even with additive manufacturing technolo­
gies. As a result, a more feasible solution is necessary. In addition, car­
bon fiber reinforced (CFRP) composite with high specific stiffness and
strength provides us a unique opportunity to develop 3D auxetic lattice
structures that are both lightweight as well as with high structural
loading performance. However, traditional fabrication techniques are
not suitable for molding of advanced composite 3D auxetic lattices.
Therefore, a new fabrication technique is required.
In an attempt to address the two challenges above, a new concept of
3D auxetic lattice structures with high stiffness is proposed in the cur­
rent work. Based upon a representative structure, a systematic investi­
gation on structural omnidirectional elastic performance is presented. In
Y. Gao et al. Mechanics of Materials 152 (2021) 103661

addition, an efficient process is also developed to fabricate the novel 3D

auxetic lattice structure from CFRP composite. 2.2. Theoretical analysis for structural homogenized elastic properties.

2. Proposed novel 3D auxetic lattice structures The elastic properties of the 3D auxetic lattice structure are theo­
retically investigated based on the first-order shear deformation beam
2.1. Design concept and structural description theory. According to the four-fold symmetric geometry, it can be
concluded that the mechanical properties of the proposed structure
Based on analyses reported in a previous work (Gao et al., 2020), it along the x-axis are completely identical to those along the y-axis. This
has been shown that poor load-bearing capacity of traditional 2D and 3D implies the proposed 3D auxetic lattice structure is actually character­
auxetic lattice structures is due to structural bending-dominated defor­ ized by quadratic symmetric elasticity. To fully assess the structural
mation mechanism. Inspired by the philosophy, the elasticity, both the uniaxial tensile and shear mechanical properties
stretching-dominated concept has been proposed for the design of along the x- and z-axes need to be analyzed, respectively. Ignoring any
auxetic lattice structures with high stiffness. Typical 2D auxetic lattice influence of the finite boundary effect, the theoretical analysis is per­
structures whose deformation is mainly governed by the stretching formed on a 1/4 unit cell, see Fig. 2(b) and (c). Considering the effects of
mechanisms are shown in Fig. 1. parent material, the elastic properties of the three types of truss mem­
The new concept of 3D auxetic lattice structures proposed in this bers are, respectively, denoted as E0 , μ0 , G0 , E1 , μ1 , G1 and E2 , μ2 , G2 . To
paper has been developed from the stretching-dominated 2D auxetic simplify the theoretical formula, the stretching force constant of the
lattice structures listed in Fig. 1. The schematics of the corresponding structural vertical truss member is defined as Ka0 = E0 b(2t0 − b)/l0 while
unit cells and block arrays of the 3D auxetic lattice structures, and the the elastic constants of the two types of inclined truss members are given
transition process from 2D to 3D, are also shown in Fig. 1. It can be seen by
that the proposed 3D periodic lattice structures are constructed by ⎧
Ei bti cos2 θi sin2 θi Ei bti sinθi cosθi sinθi cosθi
orthogonally merging a sequence of 2D structural sheets, which is very ⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪
Kia = + 3 Kib = − 3
⎪ l l l l l li
similar to that used on classic 3D re-entrant honeycomb. In addition, it ⎪ i i i i i
⎪
⎪ + +
⎨ 3
Ei bti χ i Gi bti Ei bti 3 χ i Gi bti
can be observed that the structural representative unit cells have four-
fold rotational symmetry about the central axis, and all the proposed ⎪
⎪
⎪ Ei bti sin2 θi cos2 θi 1
⎪ Kic = Kid = 3
3D lattice structures are actually characterized by periodic auxetic ⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪ li
+ 3
li li li li
⎩
feature along the three principal axes, hence exhibiting bidirectional +
Ei bti 3 χ i Gi bti
+
Ei b3 ti χ i Gi bti
negative Poisson’s ratio effect when loaded along a principal axis.
(2)
Using a similar orthogonal extension method, other stretching-
dominated 2D auxetic lattice structures can also be correspondingly where i = 1, 2 and li , b, ti , θi , respectively, correspond to the geometry
converted to 3D lattices. Due to a similar deformation mechanism, all 3D parameters given in Fig. 2(a). χi is the shear coefficients corresponding
auxetic lattice structures proposed in this work share common me­ to the cross-section of each truss member.
chanical characteristics. To provide an insight into the mechanical
properties of these 3D auxetic lattice structures, the structure shown in 2.2.1. Homogenized Young’s modulus and Poisson’s ratio
Fig. 1(a) is used as an example for detail investigation. The geometric When the infinite lattice system is stretched (compressed) along a
parameters of the 3D auxetic lattice structure are depicted in Fig. 2(a). principal axis, the deformations of different vertical truss members are
Similar to that in the 2D case, the 3D periodic lattice structure comprises completely identical to each other. Owing to the periodicity and sym­
three types of truss members. The length, thickness and inclined angle of metry of the structure, it can be concluded that there is no rotational
two types of oblique truss members are, respectively, denoted as l1 , t1 , θ1 displacement for all nodes Moreover, the nodes ABFE, BCGF, CDHG and
and l2 , t2 , θ2 while l0 depicts the length and t0 the thickness of the vertical ADHE will correspondingly remain coplanar and parallel to the coor­
truss. The half length and width of the unit cell of the 2D auxetic lattice dinate planes after deformation. For convenience of formulation, node C
structure sheet are defined as l and b, respectively. The constraint 0◦ < is assumed to be fixed in this analysis. Thus, the deformation of the
θ1 < θ2 < 90◦ and b < t0 should be simultaneously satisfied to ensure structure under a uniform tensile (compressive) load along a principal
structural geometric compatibility. The relative density of the 3D axis can be described by four nodal displacement parameters, namely,
auxetic lattice structure, ρ, is approximated as below: the x-directional displacement of nodes ADHE ux , the y-directional
( )
l0 2bt0 − b2 + 2l1 bt1 + 2l2 bt2 displacement of nodes ABFE vy , the length change of the vertical truss
ρ= (1) members wz , and the displacement of node B wB , as displayed in Fig. 2
l2 l0
(b).

Fig. 2. (a) Geometric design parameters of the novel 3D auxetic lattice structures; Displacements of 1/4 of the representative unit cell under (b) a uniform tensile
loading along a principal axis and (c) a uniform shear stress τxy .

3
Y. Gao et al. Mechanics of Materials 152 (2021) 103661

The induced nodal forces of each truss member is easily derived from
K1b + K2b λK b
their nodal displacements. Taking the node A, as an example, the nodal ux = vy = − wB − a 2 a wz (9)
forces of the relevant truss members along different principal axes are K1a + K2a K1 + K2
analyzed. Similarly, the nodal forces at each node should satisfy the equilib­
Due to structural symmetry, there only exists axial forces for the rium conditions. Based on the z-directional force balance at node A, the
vertical truss members. Supposing the deformation of the vertical truss following equation stands
members is uniform and not affected by the overlapping area of the three ( )
kinds of truss members at the intersection, the z-directional nodal force 4 2FzAB + FzAF + 2FzAD + FzAH = 0 (10)
of truss member AE at node A, FzAE , is given by Combining Eq. (10) with Eqs. (4)–(7), both ux and wB can be solved
1 as functions of wz , and given by
FzAE = − K0a wz (3)
4 ⎧ K1b K2c − K2b K1c
⎪
⎪ ux = ( )( ) ( )2 λwz
In addition to the axial deformation, both bending and shear de­ ⎪
⎪
⎨ K1a + K2a K1c + K2c − K1b + K2b
flections are induced in the x-z plane for the inclined truss members AB ( b ) ( ) (11)
⎪
and AF. Using a coordinate transformation, the x- and z-directional ⎪
⎪ wB = ( K1 + )(
⎪ K2b K2b − K1a + K2a K2c
⎩ ) ( )2 λwz
nodal forces for the truss member AB at node A are respectively derived K1a + K2a K1c + K2c − K1b + K2b
based on the first-order shear deformation beam theory, and given by
⎧ Moreover, the resultant nodal forces on the top and bottom boundary
⎪ AB 1( a b
)
of the 1/4 unit cell along the z-axis should be equal to the applied tensile
⎨ Fx = 4 K1 ux + K1 wB
⎪
(4) resultant force, so that:
⎪
⎩ FAB = − 1 ( K b u + K c w )
⎪ ( )
2 2FzAE + FzAF + FzAH = − l2 σz (12)
z x 1 B
4 1
It is clear from Fig. 2(a) that the overlapping area of the three kinds Expanding Eq. (12) according to Eq. (3) (5) and (7) and substituting
of truss members at the intersection causes an influence on the nodal the results of ux and wB into it, the applied remote tensile stress σz can be
displacements of the truss members with the inclined angle θ2 , espe­ simplified as
cially when the structure comprises relatively stubby truss members. As [ ( a ) 2 2
]
1 K + K2a K1c K2c − K1b K2c − K2b K1c
the deformation of the vertical truss members is assumed to be uniform, σ z = 2 K0a + 2λ ( 1 )( ) ( ) 2
wz (13)
l
the nodal displacements of the inclined truss member AF is easily ob­ K1a + K2a K1c + K2c − K1b + K2b
tained. By introducing a coefficient factor λ = l(tanθ2 − tanθ1 )/ l0 , the x- Taking the lateral deformation of the loaded vertical truss members
and z-directional nodal forces for the truss member AF at node A are into consideration, the homogenized strains along the three principal
obtained as axes are respectively obtained as
⎧ 1[ a ] ⎧
⎪ AF b ux − μ0 t0 /l0
⎨ Fx = 2 K2 ux + K2 (wB + λwz )
⎪ ⎪
⎪
⎨ εx = εy =
(5) l
(14)
⎪
⎩ FAF = − 1 [K b u + K c (w + λw )]
⎪ ⎪
⎪
⎩ εz =
wz
z x B z
2 2 2
l0
Similarly, the truss members AD and AH are under a combined action
where μ0 is the Poisson’s ratio of the parent material of the vertical truss
of stretching, bending and shear in the y-z plane. The nodal forces of the
members.
two truss members at node A can be decomposed into those along y- and
Thus, the structural z-directional homogenized Young’s modulus Ez
z-axes, as follows:
can be derived as:
⎧
⎪ AD 1( a b
) [ ( a ) ]
⎨ Fy = 4 K1 vy + K1 wB
⎪ σ z l0 a
2 2
K1 + K2a K1c K2c − K1b K2c − K2b K1c
(6) Ez = = 2 K0 + 2λ ( )( ) ( )2 (15)
⎪ εz l K1a + K2a K1c + K2c − K1b + K2b
⎩ FAD = − 1 ( K b v + K c w )
⎪
z y 1 B
4 1 According to μzx = − εx /εz and μzy = − εy /εz , the structural homog­
⎧
1[ a ] enized Poisson’s ratios μzx and μzx are calculated as
⎪ AH b
⎨ Fy = 2 K2 vy + K2 (wB + λwz )
⎪ [ ( ) ]
(7) l λ K1b K2c − K2b K1c μ0 t0
⎪ μzx = μzy = − 0 ( )( ) ( ) − (16)
⎩ FAH = − 1 [K b v + K c (w + λw )]
⎪ l K1a + K2a K1c + K2c − K1b + K2b 2 l0
z y B z
2 2 2

Suppose that the infinite structure is loaded with an unknown uni­
form tensile stress σz along the z-axis and the vertical truss members are
elongated by wz . As the structure is in a state of equilibrium, the force
equilibrium conditions on the boundary of the 1/4 unit cell as well as at
each node must be satisfied. Since the infinite structure is free of loading
along the x- and y-axes, the x- and y-directional resultant forces on the
boundary of the 1/4 unit cell must be zero, leading to
{ ( AB )
2 2Fx + FxAF = 0
( ) (8)
2 2FyAD + FyAH = 0
Similar to that along the z-axis, a set of simultaneous equations can
be established based on the force equilibrium at the boundary of the 1/4
unit cell along the three principal axes and at node A when the structure
is subjected to a remote tensile load along the x-axis. By expanding the
equilibrium equations according to Eqs. (3)–(7), the unknown nodal
displacements, namely vy , wB and wz as well as the applied tensile stress
σ x can be solved as functions of ux . Furthermore, the corresponding
homogenized Young’s moduli and Poisson’s ratios when loaded along
the x-axis can be derived. For simplification, the x- and y-directional
homogenized elastic parameters are directly written as follows

In Eq. (8), all the nodal forces can be directly expanded as a function
of the nodal displacements according to Eqs. (4)–(7). By solving the
simultaneous equilibrium equations, both ux and vy can be expressed as a
function of wB and wz , as follows

4
Y. Gao et al. Mechanics of Materials 152 (2021) 103661

( a a
) ( )2 [ ( )
2 K1a + K2a K0a K1c + K2c + 2λK1c K2c
] derived:
⎧ E = E = 2 K1 + K2 − [ (
⎪ x y
l0 ⎧ )( ) ( ) ]⎫
b 2
( )
⎪
(23)
a a a c c b
⎪
⎪
⎪ ⎨ K0 2 K1 + K2 K1 + K2 − K1 + K2
⎪ ⎪
⎬ 2 2FyAB + FyAF = ll0 τxy
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪ l0 [ ]
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎩ ( ) 2 2
+2λ 2 K1a + K2a K1c K2c − K1b K2c − K2b K1c
⎪
⎭ Substituting Eq. (18) into Eq. (23), the applied uniform shear stress,
⎪
⎨ τxy , can be finally expressed as a function of vy , as follows:
( )2 ( 2 )
⎪
⎪ 2
⎪
⎪ K0a K1b + K2b + 2λ K1b K2c + K2b K1c K1d + K2d
⎪
⎪
⎪ μxy = − ⎧ [ ( )( ) ( )2 ] ⎫ τxy = vy (24)
⎪
⎪ 2ll0
⎪
⎪ ⎪
⎨ K0a 2 K1a + K2a K1c + K2c − K1b + K2b ⎪
⎬
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎩ Consequently, the structural homogenized shear modulus Gxz is
⎪ [ ( ]⎪
⎩ ) 2 2
+2λ 2 K1a + K2a K1c K2c − K1b K2c − K2b K1c
⎭ derived as:

(17) τxy τxy K1d + K2d

Gxy = = vy = (25)
γ xy l
2l0
2.2.2. The homogenized shear modulus
When the infinite structure is subjected to a uniform shear stress τxz
Imagine an unknown uniform shear stress τxy is applied to the two
in the x-z plane, the inclined truss members AB, AF, EF and CD, CH, GH
sides of the infinite structure parallel to the principal y-z plane. The
play dominant roles in resisting the shear loads. Thus, it is assumed that
whole system is thus put in a mechanically antsymmetric status. Ac­
there exists no deformation of the truss members AD, AH, EH and BC,
cording to the periodic and symmetric feature of structural geometry, it
CF, FG. Moreover, the rotational displacements of all nodes are
can be concluded that the deformations of the 1/4 unit cell under the
considered zero in order to simplify the theoretical analysis. Under this
shear load are completely described by the relative displacements be­
premise, the deformation of the simplified 1/4 unit cell is determined by
tween nodes BCGF and ADHE along the y-axis, i.e. vy , and the rotation of
the relative displacement between planes ADHE and BCGF along the z-
the vertical truss members about the z-axis, i.e. ϕz . Assuming that all
axis. Similarly, the homogenized shear modulus Gxz of the structure can
degrees of freedom except for the rotation about the z-axis of nodes
be obtained using the method adopted above. Based on the four-fold
ADHE are zero, the displacement constraints at each node of the beam
symmetry, the structural homogenized shear modulus Gyz is identical
system can be simplified as given in Fig. 2(c).
to Gxz . Hence, Gxz and Gyz are directly given below:
According to the nodal displacements, the induced non-zero nodal
[ ( b )2 ]
forces of each truss member relevant to node A can be directly obtained 1 K1 + K2b
as: Gxz = Gyz = K1c + K2c − (26)
l0 K1a + K2a
⎧
⎪ AB 1( d d
)
⎨ Fy = 4 K1 vy − K1 l1 cosθ1 ϕz
⎪
3. Experiments
(18)
⎪
⎩ FAF = 1 ( K d v − K d l cosθ ϕ )
⎪
y
2 2 y 2 2 2 z 3.1. Specimen design and fabrication

where FyAB and FyAF are, respectively, the induced nodal forces of truss In the present work, four configurations of carbon fiber reinforced
members AB and AF along the y-axis. polymer (CFRP) composite 3D auxetic lattice structures, as illustrated in
Similarly, the induced non-zero nodal moments of each truss mem­ Fig. 3, were investigated. The four CFRP composite specimens have
ber relevant to node A can also be derived as: different relative density, each corresponding to θ1 = 15◦ , θ2 = 45◦ ;
⎧ θ1 = 15◦ , θ2 = 60◦ ; θ1 = 30◦ , θ2 = 60◦ and θ1 = 45◦ , θ2 = 60. For
1
⎪
⎪
⎪ MzAB = K1d l1 2 cos2 θ1 ϕz convenience, all specimens were designed with l = 16mm, t0 = 2t1 =
⎪ 8
⎪
⎪
⎪ 2t2 = 3.5mm, b = 1.2mm. Correspondingly, the length by width of all
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪
1
MzAF = K2d l2 2 cos2 θ2 ϕz the specimens are maintained constant at 131.5 mm by 131.5 mm while
⎨ 4 the height approximates 170 mm. It is worth noting that each specimen
(19)
⎪
⎪ 1( ) comprises more than four complete unit cells along the x- and y-axes
⎪
⎪ MzAD = − K1d l1 cosθ1 vy + K1d l1 2 cos2 θ1 ϕz
⎪
⎪
⎪ 8 since there exist additional materials around the structural edges, which
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪ is detailed in Fig. 4(c).
⎪
⎩ AH 1 ( )
Mz = − K2d l2 cosθ2 vy + K2d l2 2 cos2 θ2 ϕz A T300/epoxy carbon fiber plain weave fabric prepreg (manufac­
4
tured by Xiamen Zhongxian Composite Material Co., Ltd., China) was
where MAB AD AF
and MAH used to fabricate all the CFRP composite specimens, using a method that
z , Mz , Mz z , respectively, represent the induced
nodal moments of truss members AB, AD, AF and AH about the z-axis. was developed to allow rapid fabrication of 3D auxetic lattice structures.
Based on the moment equilibrium of the vertical truss members, the The elastic properties of the prepreg are detailed in Table 1. Fig. 4 il­
following relationship is derived: lustrates a schematic of the whole fabrication process. To ensure spec­
( ) imens of high quality, laminates with the ply sequence of [0◦ , 0◦ , 45◦ ]s
4 2MzAB + MzAF + 2MzAD + MzAH = 0 (20) were firstly prepared with an autoclave process. Using a numerically
controlled engraving technology, two kinds of 2D component parts with
Combining Eq. (20) with Eq. (19), ϕz is solved as a function of vy
interlocking slots along different directions were cut from the cured
1 K1d l1 cosθ1 + K2d l2 cosθ2 laminates, as shown in Fig. 4(a). After a surface polishing and cleaning
ϕz = vy (21)
2 K1d l1 2 cos2 θ1 + K2d l2 2 cos2 θ2 treatment with acetone, all the interlocking slots of the component parts
were brushed with the liquid epoxy-based adhesive J-101 (supplied by
Using the relationship l1 cos θ1 = l2 cos θ2 , the above relationship the Heilongjiang Petrochemical Research Institute, China). Further­
can be further simplified as: more, these 2D component parts are alternatively assembled into a 3D
1 1 configuration as shown in Fig. 4(b). To maintain the dimensions and
ϕz = vy = vy (22) shape of the lattice structures, square locating columns with appropriate
2l1 cosθ1 2l2 cosθ2
size coated with release cloth are inserted into the interspace between
Similarly, the total forces at the boundary of the 1/4 unit cell should the adjacent component parts of the assembly to prevent them from
satisfy the equilibrium conditions. Thus, the following equation is

5
Y. Gao et al. Mechanics of Materials 152 (2021) 103661

Fig. 3. Specimens of CFRP composite 3D auxetic lattice structures with l = 16mm, t0 = 2t1 = 2t2 = 3.5mm, b = 1.2mm.

Fig. 4. Schematic of the fabrication process of CFRP composite 3D auxetic lattice structure.

shifting (Fig. 4(c)). Then, a hot pressing process was performed by
packing the assembly with a detachable pressure box coated with release
cloth and putting them into an oven for adhesive curing at a temperature
being 70 ◦ C for 1.5 h. By removing the pressure box and square posi­
tioning columns, the CFRP composite 3D auxetic lattice structure can
finally be obtained (Fig. 4(c)). Although not systematically studied, it is
obvious that compared with the method for fabricating 3D auxetic
structure proposed in previous literature (Wang et al., 2016, 2018. Xue
et al., 2018. Warmuth et al., 2017. Yang et al., 2019), the present
fabrication process is much more efficient and, therefore, shows great
potential for rapid fabrication and cost savings.

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Y. Gao et al. Mechanics of Materials 152 (2021) 103661

Table 1 simulations, i.e. FEM B and FEM C, were performed on finite structures
The elastic properties of woven CFRP composite (T300/epoxy). and compared with the experimental results. As shown in Fig. 5(c), FEM
Properties Value C was exactly same as the measured specimens. In comparison, FEM B
(Fig. 5(b)) was modeled with 4 × 4 complete unit cells along both the x-
In-plane tensile moduli E1 、E2 (GPa) 54.50
and y-axes to investigate the influence of additional material around the
In-plane compressive moduli E1 、E2 (GPa) 45.79
edges on structural elastic performance. In these two latter models, the
Out-plane Young’s modulus E3 (GPa) 8.40
compression platens were simulated with discrete rigid and rough
In-plane shear modulus G12 (GPa) 3.07
contact was used between them and the measured specimen. After the
Out-plane shear moduli G13 、G23 (GPa) 4.20
simulation, displacements of the nodes around the retro-reflective tapes
In-plane Poisson’s ratio v12 0.0638
in experiments were extracted to calculate structural axial and lateral
Out-plane Poisson’s ratios v13 、v23 0.25
strains. In the simulations, the adhesive interfaces were ignored and the
Volume fraction of fibers Vf 58%
component parts that made up the whole lattice structure were assumed
Density ρ (kg/m3) 1437
to be perfectly bonded together. Under this premise, all the numerical
models were simulated as a single part instead of an assembly imposed
3.2. Mechanical characterization with contact interactions, and the material properties were applied on
the partitioned cells. Mesh convergence tests were conducted for all
The elastic properties of the CFRP composite specimens were simulations.
determined by performing uniaxial compression tests. In accordance
with the ASTM C365 standard, the compressive tests were carried out in 5. Results and discussion
the quasi-static regime at a nominal displacement rate of 0.5 mm/min,
using a screw-driven testing machine (INSTRON 5569) at room tem­ 5.1. Numerical verification and analysis of structural auxetic effect
perature. During the tests, the specimens were loaded between two flat
platens and the applied load was recorded via the load cell of the testing The theoretical models outlined in Section 2 are verified with FEM A
machine. Meanwhile, structural compressive and lateral deformations based on a group of numerical simulations applied with periodic
were measured using two high-precision laser extensometers via moni­ boundary condition, by comparing a series of the homogenized elastic
toring two pairs of retro-reflective tapes stuck to the two platens and constants obtained from the theoretical and simulation methods. Fig. 6
specimen’s surface. The location of the retro-reflective tapes are shown shows the comparison between the theoretical predictions and
Fig. 11(a). To minimize the influence of boundary effects, the reflective
tapes for lateral nominal strain calculation were set away from the
structural edge sides. In this work, a minimum of three tests were con­
ducted for each specimen to ensure reliability of the results.

4. Numerical modeling

Three types of solid numerical models (i.e. FEM A, FEM B and FEM C)
were developed, using the commercial finite element software package
ABAQUS/Standard, to investigate the elastic performance of the 3D
auxetic lattice structures. FEM A was used to simulate the structure with
infinite unit cells for the purpose of verifying the theoretical predictions.
As shown in Fig. 5(a), the finite element analysis was performed on a
representative unit cell. To ensure a macroscopically uniform stress/
displacement field, the nodes on the opposite faces were controlled in
the same position so as to form node pairs in the process of meshing and
imposed with periodic boundary conditions by FORTRAN pre-compiler
code, as described in (Fang et al., 2009). By applying different kinds of
macroscopic strain, all six independent homogenized elastic parameters
Fig. 6. Comparison of the homogenized elastic constants for 3D auxetic lattice
of the structure were calculated according to Dirrenberger et al. (2013).
structures with E1 = E2 = E3 = Es , b = t1 = t2 = t3 , θ1 = 30◦ , θ2 = 60◦ between
Considering the boundary effect, the other two types of numerical the theoretical predictions and numerical calculations.

Fig. 5. Three types of numerical models of the novel 3D auxetic lattice structure with different boundary conditions.

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Y. Gao et al. Mechanics of Materials 152 (2021) 103661

numerical calculations of the homogenized elastic constants for struc­
tures with E1 = E2 = E3 = Es , b = t1 = t2 = t3 , θ1 = 30◦ , θ2 = 60◦ and
different slenderness ratios of the strut t1 /l. It is clear that there are very
close agreements between the corresponding homogenized elastic con­
stants obtained from the two methods. Hence, it is concluded that for a
structure that comprises of sufficient unit cells, the homogenized elastic
constants can be well predicted by the theoretical models.
Using the theoretical model, the dependence of structural homoge­
nized Poisson’s ratios in the principal planes on geometric parameters is
analyzed. Taking the case of 3D auxetic lattice structure with E1 = E2 =
E3 = Es , b = t1 = t2 = t3 , θ1 = 30◦ , Fig. 7 provides a full picture about
how μxy and μzx (μzy ) vary with θ2 and t1 /l. The contour plots confirm that
the structure is always auxetic, when loaded along a principal axis,
within the range of elastic response considered here. Furthermore, it can
be seen that, by tailoring the geometric parameters, the structural ho­
mogenized Poisson’s ratio along the three principal axes can be tuned in
a wide range. This reveals the powerful capability of the present struc­
ture to provide competing negative Poisson’s ratio effect with almost all
traditional 3D auxetic lattice structures. In addition, for a targeted
negative Poisson’s ratio in a principal plane, it can be achieved in more
than one way by permutating the various choices of geometric design
parameters. Such a feature further demonstrates that these novel
structures can offer excellent flexibility in auxetic design.
In this section, the homogenized elastic properties of 3D auxetic
lattice structure along a general direction are investigated. Without any
loss of generality, the specimens with E1 = E2 = E3 = Es , l = 10b =
10t1 = 10t2 = 10t3 and different relative densities are chosen for the
analysis. According to the classical theory of elasticity mechanics, off-
axis homogenized elastic constitutive relationships are easily derived
from the corresponding principal axes values by coordinate trans­
formation. In this work, two general orthogonal vectors m and n are used
to define the direction of the applied uniaxial load and the lateral di­
rection, respectively. Correspondingly, the homogenized elastic engi­
neering constants along general directions, including the homogenized
Young’s moduli E* (m), Poisson’s ratios μ* (m, n) as well as shear moduli
G* (m, n), can be obtained. A set of FORTRAN codes is programed to
realize the calculations.
Taking the classical 3D re-entrant honeycomb as example, Fig. 8(a)
illustrates the specific homogenized Young’s modulus E* (m)/Es of
traditional bending-dominated 3D auxetic lattice structure along a
general direction. It can be seen that, in addition to the low stiffness
feature, traditional 3D re-entrant honeycomb is also characterized by
very poor structural stability since the stiffness along the off-axial di­
rection is much lower than those along the principal axes. For the novel
lattice structures proposed in this work, directional dependence of the
specific homogenized Young’s modulus E∗ (m)/Es of two representative
structures having θ1 = 15◦ , θ2 = 60◦ and θ1 = 30◦ , θ2 = 60◦ are inves­
tigated. From the results shown in Fig. 8(b) and (c), it is obvious that the
structural stiffness, as in the case of the 3D re-entrant honeycomb, is also
strongly dependent on loading direction. However, there are significant
differences between the two structures in terms of anisotropy of the
structural homogenized Young’s moduli. From Fig. 8(b) and (c), it can

Fig. 7. The effects of inclined angle θ2 and slenderness ratio t1 /l on structural homogenized Poisson’s ratio along principal axes (a) μxy and (b) μzx (μzy ) for 3D auxetic
lattice structure with E1 = E2 = E3 = Es , b = t1 = t2 = t3 , θ1 = 30◦ . Directional dependence of structural homogenized elastic properties.

Fig. 8. Directional dependence of the specific homogenized Young’s moduli E* (m)/Es of (a) a 3D re-entrant honeycomb, and two novel 3D auxetic lattice structures
(E1 = E2 = E3 = Es , l = 10b = 10t1 = 10t2 = 10t3 ) with (b) θ1 = 15◦ , θ2 = 60◦ . (c) θ1 = 30◦ , θ2 = 60◦ .

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Y. Gao et al. Mechanics of Materials 152 (2021) 103661

Fig. 9. Directional dependence of the specific homogenized shear moduli (a) G∗ (x, n)/Es and (b) G∗ (z, n)/Es of a 3D re-entrant honeycomb and two novel 3D auxetic
lattice structures (E1 = E2 = E3 = Es , l = 10b = 10t1 = 10t2 = 10t3 ) with θ1 = 15◦ , θ2 = 60◦ and θ1 = 30◦ , θ2 = 60◦ .

Fig. 10. Directional dependence of the homogenized Poisson’s ratios (a) μ* (x, n) and (b) μ* (z, n) of a 3D re-entrant honeycomb and two novel 3D auxetic lattice
structures (E1 = E2 = E3 = Es , l = 10b = 10t1 = 10t2 = 10t3 ) with θ1 = 15◦ , θ2 = 60◦ and θ1 = 30◦ , θ2 = 60◦ .

be observed that the novel structures exhibit excellent omnidirectional
stiffness when loaded along the x-z and y-z principal planes. The two 3D
polar plots also show that the structural homogenized Young’s modulus
along off-axis direction around the z-axis is also significantly improved,
which implies the 3D auxetic lattice structure is very stable when loaded
along z-axis. In contrast, the structures are much weaker when loaded
along any other off-axis direction. This rather unique anisotropic feature
implies that the structures are actually unable to meet the demand of
resisting disturbance when loaded along any direction other than z-axis.
Considering that structural stability is essential for any load-bearing
system, it can be concluded that the 3D auxetic lattice structure is
actually only very suitable for uniaxial load-bearing along the z-axis.
Fig. 9 shows the specific homogenized shear moduli G∗ (x, n)/ Es and
G∗ (z, n)/Es for the same three structures as functions of the off-axis angle
in the form of polar plots. Similar to the case of the traditional 3D re-
entrant honeycomb, G∗ (x, n)/Es of our proposed structure in the x-y
principal plane is very different from G∗ (z, n)/Es . When loaded in shear
and perpendicular to the x-axis, the homogenized shear modulus along
different directions of the structures varies significantly. In contrast,
when loaded with shear perpendicular to the z-axis, the homogenized
shear modulus of the structure is completely independent of the loading
direction. Obviously, Gxy is actually a weakness of the proposed
structure. Compared with the 3D re-entrant honeycomb, the omnidi­
rectional homogenized shear modulus of the structure in the x-y prin­
cipal plane are significantly enhanced. This indicates that the novel
structure has a significant advantage in resisting shear loads.
The directional dependence of the homogenized Poisson’s ratios
μ∗ (x, n) and μ∗ (z, n) for the three auxetic structures is presented in
Fig. 10. Similar to the shear behavior, the homogenized Poisson’s ratio
of the structures in the x-z principal plane is anisotropic. However, when
loaded along the z-axis, the structures exhibit obvious isotropic negative
Poisson’s ratio effect in the x-z principal plane. It is noteworthy that,
different from the 3D structures proposed by Li et al. (2017), the polar
plots in Fig. 10 indicate that the novel 3D auxetic lattice structures
presented in this work are fully auxetic when loaded along the principal
axes.
The anisotropic behaviors observed in the analyses above stem from
the special deformation mechanisms of the novel structure. By referring
to Eqs. (15)–(17) and (26), it can be concluded that, when loaded with
an uniaxial tensile/compressive stress along a principal axis or x-z/y-z
in-plane shear stress, the structural deformation is mainly governed by
truss stretching. However, Eq. (25) implies that Gxy is actually bending-
dominated, thus the investigated structure is actually not completely
stretching-dominated and can’t be used for isotropic auxetic design. This

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Y. Gao et al. Mechanics of Materials 152 (2021) 103661

Fig. 11. Compressive elastic response of CFRP composite 3D auxetic lattice structure: (a) photograph of the typically measured specimens under compression; (b) the
scaled displacement contour plot in FEM C at εz = − 0.15%; (c) The measured compressive stress-compressive strain curves (σ z − εz ) and (d) lateral strain-
compressive strain curves (εx − εz ) of the four specimens.

Fig. 12. The theoretical, numerical and measured results of (a) homogenized Young’s modulus and (b) Poisson’s ratio for CFRP composite 3D auxetic lat­
tice structures.

finding can also be extended to other 3D auxetic lattice structures, structure.

including those shown in Fig. 1, since they are characterized by the same
dominant deformation mechanisms. Following on from this, it should be
pointed out that the 3D augmented re-entrant cellular structure pro­
posed by Li et al. (2017) is actually not suitable for load-bearing. Due to
the bending-dominated nature, a critical drawback of the simple
enhanced structure is that the off-axis Young’s moduli are much weaker,
while the corresponding shear moduli are much stronger, than values
obtainable along the principal axes (Li et al., 2017). The poor structural
stability seriously limits their use in real engineering applications. From
this standpoint, the new concept of 3D auxetic lattice structures pre­
sented in this work show significant advantage in uniaxial load-bearing.
Compressive elastic response of CFRP composite 3D auxetic lattice
The analyses carried out in this work show that the novel 3D auxetic
lattice structure is only very suitable for load-bearing along the z-axis.
For this reason, only the elastic properties along this axis were measured
and considered for the CFRP composite specimens. The compressive
elastic responses of the specimens are presented in Fig. 11. From Fig. 11
(c), it can be seen that after a small toe region at the initiation of loading,
noticeably caused by gaps present between the specimen and platens,
the homogenized compressive stress increased with axial strain in a
near-linear fashion. From Fig. 11(d), it can be observed that, in almost
all cases, there is significant fluctuation in the axial strain-lateral strain
curves for all four tests, which may be related to manufacturing defects
in the specimens. Nevertheless, all curves still exhibit a roughly linear

10
Y. Gao et al.
Fig. 13. Two representative SEM images acquired from the cross-section of structural vertical truss members. Comparison of stiffness between different 3D auxetic
lattice structures.
trend. Due to the small deformation, no discernible contraction of the
specimen is visually observed (Fig. 11(a)), despite it being expected
from numerical simulation FEM C, as depicted in Fig. 11(b), whereby the
simulated results show that the structures exhibits negative Poisson’s
ratio effect when loaded along the z-axis.
Fig. 12 summarizes the experimental results of the four CFRP com­
posite specimens tested along the z-axis, which are presented alongside
the predicted values using the methods described in Sections 2 and 4 of
this paper. Compared with the theoretical predictions, the measured
negative Poisson’s ratio is much less obvious for all four specimens. In
contrast, a reasonable agreement between measurements and pre­
dictions is achieved for structural homogenized Young’s modulus. The
different predictions derived from the three numerical models could
shed some light on the discrepancies observed between measured and
predicted values. As shown in the figure, both the homogenized Young’s
modulus and Poisson’s ratio of the four specimens with infinite unit cells
(FEM A) can be well predicted by the theoretical models. When taking
the finite boundary into consideration (FEM B), however, the structures
are predicted to become much less auxetic. The structural z-directional
homogenized Young’s modulus seems to be insensitive to the finite
boundary effect. In addition, the rather large difference between FEM B
and FEM C predictions demonstrates that the existing of the presence of
additional materials around the structural edges also exerts significant
influence on the structural elastic performance, especially with respect
to the homogenized Young’s modulus. However, the results of this work
Fig. 14. Comparison of stiffness between various 3D auxetic lattice structures.
11
Mechanics of Materials 152 (2021) 103661
suggest that the measured homogenized Young’s modulus of is actually
not enhanced when compared with that predicted by FEM B. Obviously,
the vertical truss members, which play a dominant role in structural z-
directional load-bearing, have been severely weakened during fabrica­
tion. Representative SEM images of the cross-section of structural ver­
tical truss members are displayed in Fig. 13. The void-free surface and
the uniform distribution of carbon fibers away from the adhesive region
indicate that the CFRP truss members remain high quality after cut from
the laminate. Nevertheless, the defects such as gaps and voids are
observed at the adhesive region in some cross sections (Fig. 13(b)),
which implies that not all the 2D component parts have been perfectly
bonded together. In addition to these defects, it is highly probable that
the interlocking slots themselves may have also detrimentally affected
the performance since they have broken the continuous carbon fibers.
Considering the respective influences of the above factors, it can be
concluded that the finite boundary effect is the main cause of errors for
the homogenized Poisson’s ratio prediction. On the other hand, the
reasonable agreement with theoretical predictions for the measured
homogenized Young’s modulus is a result of mutual cancelling out be­
tween the performance enhancement from having the additional mate­
rials around the edges, and the performance degradation due to the
introduction of interlocking slots.
In this section, the compressive stiffness of the CFRP composite 3D
auxetic lattice structures investigated here are compared with those of
other 3D auxetic lattice structures. As shown in Fig. 14, the measured
homogenized Young’s moduli of various 3D auxetic lattice structures
previously reported in the literatures are summarized and plotted
alongside those of the CFRP composite structures of this work, as a
function of the material density. Similar to the Ashby’s material selec­
tion maps, the experimental data for various traditional 3D auxetic
lattice structures fabricated with polymer, steel, Ti6–Al4–V and CRFP
composites, and using different fabrication processes, are separately
enveloped with colored ellipses. The results of the CFRP composite 3D
auxetic lattice structure investigated here are shown as a red region. It is
clear that they occupy the low density but high stiffness region of the
figure. It will be noticed that these novel structures have realized an
improvement in structural stiffness of more than two orders of magni­
tude over traditional 3D auxetic lattice structures having same densities.
In addition, the superior stiffness outperforms even those of most metal
structures, which obviously have much higher densities.
6. Conclusion
An investigation into a class of novel 3D auxetic lattice structures
have been carried out in the present work. The novel lattice structures
have been constructed based on a novel concept of orthogonally splicing
Y. Gao et al.
stretching-dominated 2D auxetic lattice structures. The homogenized
elastic properties of the representative 3D auxetic lattice structure along
both the principal and off-axial directions, i.e. the Young’s moduli,
Poisson’s ratios and shear moduli, have been systematically character­
ized using the developed theoretical models. Based on these analyses, it
has been shown that the structures have a directional dependence
whereby, when loaded along the direction of the four-fold axis of geo­
metric symmetry, they exhibit both auxetic behavior and superior
stiffness with the ability to resist disturbance. This work has also
demonstrated the viability of the novel structures by fabricating and
testing four different specimens. The experimental results, coupled with
numerical simulations, have been used to verify the structural homog­
enized elastic properties derived from the theoretical models. The
experimental results have further shown that the CFRP 3D auxetic lattice
structures exhibit much superior stiffness and competing negative
Poisson’s ratio effect when compared to other auxetic cellular struc­
tures. As a result of this work, which have demonstrated the superiority
of these novel 3D auxetic lattice structures, there are very good prospect
for them to be used in a variety of applications, such as a fastening
system. The structural design philosophy and the rapid fabrication
process presented in this work provide an inspiration for solving the key
problem of low load-bearing capacity and difficulty of fabrication of
traditional 3D auxetic lattice structures.
Author agreement
We confirmed the following items:
[1] The paper is not concurrently submitted for publication
elsewhere.
[2] The paper, in its entirety, in part, or in a modifies version, has not
been published elsewhere.
[3] The paper has not previously been submitted for possible publi­
cation elsewhere.
[4] We disclosed all the financial and personal relationships with
other people or organizations that could inappropriately influ­
ence (bias) their work in the acknowledgement and author lists.
Declaration of competing interest
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to
the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Acknowledgments
This work was jointly supported by the National Science Foundation
of China under Grant No. 12072091, NSFC and the Research Grants
Council of Hong Kong Joint Research Scheme No.1201101011, Program
for Outstanding Young Scholars in Harbin Institute of Technology, Na­
tional Natural Science Foundation of Heilongjiang Province
(YQ2019A003), the Science and Technology on Advanced Composites in
Special Environment Laboratory and Young Elite Scientist Sponsorship
Program by CAST (YESS20160190).
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