Materials Today Communications 34 (2023) 104936

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Materials Today Communications

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/mtcomm

Experimental and numerical study on the mechanical behavior of 3D

printed re-entrant auxetic structure filled with carbon nanotubes-reinforced
polymethylmethacrylate foam
M.H. Namdari Pour a, Gholamhassan Payganeh a, *, Mehdi Tajdari b
a
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Shahid Rajaee Teacher Training University (SRTTU), Tehran, Iran
b
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Electrical, Mechanical and Computer Engineering, University of Eyvanekey, Eyvanekey, Iran

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

Keywords: The present study aimed to develop the finite element method to examine the mechanical behavior of 3D printed
Re-entrant auxetic re-entrant auxetic structure filled with nanoparticle-reinforced foams under in-plane uniaxial quasi-static
3D printer compressive loading. A multi-scale finite element model of the nanocomposite is created by considering the
PMMA/CNT nanocomposite
randomly distributed carbon nanotubes (CNT) in the Polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) polymer matrix for a
Fracture strength
Finite element simulation
specific volume fraction. The interaction between CNT and PMMA foam was simulated using the cohesive zone
model (CZM). The effect of the volume fraction of carbon nanotubes and the geometric characteristics of the
structure on the performance of these structures is examined. Results from the finite element study are validated
by the samples manufactured using 3D printing and experimental testing results. The results show that the
addition of carbon nanotubes to the re-entrant auxetic structure avoids the sharp reduction of force after the peak
point, while the use of 2 wt% of carbon nanotubes increases the maximum fracture force up to 75%. Results
indicate optimal values for carbon nanotube volume fraction and the thickness of the cell walls, for which energy
absorption has the highest value. It is concluded that adding 2 wt% carbon nanotubes to the PMMA foam in­
creases the energy absorption up to 130%.

1. Introduction helping withstand lateral shear loads. Furthermore, owing to the

Single-skin laminated and sandwich panel composite materials are
widely used to design and manufacture various structures. On the other
hand, it has been observed that long-term exposure of these composite-
made structures to ambient marine conditions such as repeated wave
shocks, brine water, moisture, and ultraviolet radiation reduces their
mechanical and physical properties. Harsh reactions and ambient con­
ditions are significant barriers to the long-term use of metal composite
materials which is always an interesting subject for researchers.
Accordingly, polymer materials to eliminate these problems are effec­
tive solutions that have received much attention from researchers.
Sandwich panels are increasingly used in various industries, such as
the marine industry, due to their advantages, such as high specific
strength and stiffness, more excellent resistance against flexural loads,
corrosion resistance, and lower prices. In these structures, strong shells
are generally designed to withstand normal stresses, and the cores are
the lighter and weaker part of the sandwich panel responsible for
development of nanotechnology in recent years and advancements in
mechanical and chemical properties of these materials, various types of
nanoparticles such as carbon nanotubes [1,2], graphene nanosheets [3],
Al2O3 nanoparticles [4,5], Fe2O3 [6] and etc. have been used to rein­
force and retrofit different materials.
Due to its high tensile strength and hardness, excellent rigidity, and
high transparency in the visible wavelength range, PMMA is an impor­
tant polymer for mechanical and optical applications. A growing num­
ber of academic and industrial researchers have been examining PMMA
nanocomposites incorporating nanoscale particles in recent decades due
to the high potential for new and/or improved properties provided by
these nanoparticles [7]. Additionally, extensive research has been con­
ducted on PMMA foams, resulting in a novel class of lightweight,
cost-effective materials. The porous structure of these materials makes
them suitable for a wide range of applications, including packaging,
insulation, cushions, and adsorbents, as well as scaffolds for tissue en­
gineering [8,9]. Kausar [10] found that compared to foams in which

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: g.payganeh@sru.ac.ir (G. Payganeh).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mtcomm.2022.104936
Received 6 August 2022; Received in revised form 30 October 2022; Accepted 13 November 2022
Available online 15 November 2022
2352-4928/© 2022 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
M.H. Namdari Pour et al.
micro additives were used; PMMA foams containing nanoparticles pro­
vide smaller, more uniformly structured cells. Deep et al. [11] reported
that a smaller percentage of carbon nanotubes in the PMMA polymer
structure significantly increased the acoustic and mechanical properties.
Sengwa et al. [12] reviewed the effect of using ZnO, SnO2, and TiO2
nanoparticles on the mechanical, structural and optical properties of
PMMA foams. Alqahtani et al. [13] experimentally studied the me­
chanical properties of boron nitride and zirconia nanopowders- rein­
forced PMMA. Their findings revealed that using 5 wt% of BN
nanoparticles improved the flexural strength and elastic modulus of
nanocomposites by about 550% and 240%, respectively. Gayathri et al.
[14] compared the presence of nano-silica, clay soil, and tire swarf in
foam structure and demonstrated that adding 1.7 wt% to all three ma­
terials yielded the best results. In general, nano-silica performed better
relative to the other three additives. Their findings also suggested that
the effect of fiber strength on the polymer matrix was affected by such
parameters as the type of material, size and impregnation of the fibers
with resin, fiber cohesiveness with the polymer matrix, amount, direc­
tion and location of fibers, and the water absorption of the polymer
matrix. Balos [15] examined the elastic modulus and strength of
PMMA/silica nanocomposites experimentally, concluding that adding
SiO2 nanoparticles could significantly strengthen the nanocomposites
performance. Abutalib et al. [16] also reviewed the mechanical, ther­
mal, and electrical properties of carbon nanotube-reinforced PMMA
nanocomposites. Microscopic images showed that the carbon nanotubes
were well dispersed in the polymer matrix. According to the experiment
results, the fatigue life of nanocomposites containing 0.5 wt% of
multi-walled carbon nanotubes significantly increased compared to the
base polymer. This study also examined the effect of carbon nanotubes
on polyethylene. The results revealed that the stiffness and
shock-strength of the sample containing 1 wt% of carbon nanotubes
increased relative to the base polymer, while for the sample containing
1.5 wt% of carbon nanotubes stiffness and shock strength was reduced.
Because conducting experimental tests on nanocomposites is time-
consuming and costly, the use of finite element methods in this field
has developed in recent years. Feli and Namdari Pour [17] developed an
analytical model for the perforation of composite sandwich panels with
honeycomb cores subjected to high-velocity impact. Karimzadeh et al.
[18] used the finite element method to predict the mechanical behavior
of carbon nanotube-reinforced- polymer composites. Xia et al. [19] used
the finite element method and experimental tests to examine the effect
of nanoparticles and nanofibers on the mechanical properties and
Young’s modulus of silicon-based nanocomposites. Their findings
revealed that three-dimensional or spherical nanoparticles had more
effects than two-dimensional and flat nanoparticles such as nanofibers.
Khani et al. [20] employed the finite element method to examine the
elastic properties of composites reinforced with spiral and filamentous
carbon nanotubes. Pashaki et al. [21] examined the behavior of carbon
nanotubes-reinforced nanocomposites by employing the finite element
method. They carried out two-dimensional simulations and considered
the interaction between nanoparticles and the matrix to examine the
mechanical behavior of this type of composite. Skountzos et al. [22]
employed the molecular dynamics method to prove that nano-silica
particles in the polyurethane structure would improve mechanical and
physical properties. Their results suggested that particles of nanoscales
increased the mechanical properties of polyurethane foams more than
particles of microscales. Recently, Namdari Pour et al. [23] examined
the mechanical behavior of these nanocomposites by employing the
multi-scale finite element method and considering the random distri­
bution of carbon nanotubes in PMMA polymer. Their experiments
indicated that the addition of 1 wt% and 2 wt% of carbon nanotubes to
PMMA foam, as compared to pure foam, increased its tensile strength by
49% and 82%, respectively. Zeng et al. [24] explored microcellular
polymer CNTs nanocomposite foams based on poly PMMA and
multi-walled carbon nanotubes. The influence of carbon nanotube
aspect ratio on the foam morphology of MWNT/PMMA nanocomposite
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Materials Today Communications 34 (2023) 104936
foams was investigated by Chen et al. [25]. It was found that the
nanocomposite foams filled with shorter CNT had higher bubble density
under the same foaming conditions and CNT concentration. Sadati et al.
[26] prepared polymethylmethacrylate CNTs nanocomposite foams
using pristine MWCNTs and observed a significant increase in me­
chanical properties (tensile strength, tensile modulus, elastic recovery).
Deep and Mishra [27] evaluated the mechanical properties of func­
tionalized carbon nanotube-reinforced PMMA polymer nanocomposite.
The tensile strength of the MWCNT/PMMA composite increases with an
increase in weight percentages of MWCNT up to 0.5 wt%, and then it
decreases.
A literature review indicates that the use of finite element methods to
examine the mechanical behavior of nanocomposite sandwich panels
has not been considered, which is the main objective of this study. Thus,
the present study employed a multi-scale finite element model to
examine the effect of nanoparticles on the mechanical properties of 3D
printed re-entrant auxetic structures filled with carbon nanotube-
reinforced PMMA foam. In this research, the interaction between car­
bon nanotubes and PMMA foam was simulated by employing the
cohesive zone model (CZM). Experimental tests were employed to
validate the finite element results and predict the CZM model co­
efficients. Finally, the effect of different parameters, such as CZM model
coefficients and various weight percentages of the nanoparticles and
geometrical characteristics of the re-entrant auxetic sandwich panel, on
the mechanical properties of this structure were examined.
2. Experimental tests
2.1. Fabricating 3D printed re-entrant auxetic panel
The samples were manufactured using a Stratasys Dimension 1200es
printer with polylactic acid (PLA) polymer as the build material. These
parts were manufactured with a resolution (layer height) of 0.254 mm,
and an infill of solid. To prevent support material from getting stuck in
the structure, samples were manufactured with the z-direction as the
build direction. The PLA material was heated and melted by a 3D printer
and converted into a quasi-liquid. Then, the PLA material created by the
nozzle was compressed and directed outwards to produce the designed
panel in a laminated form. The sandwich PLA panel made by a 3D
printer was fabricated following the cooling and curing stages. Fig. 1
illustrates a sample re-entrant auxetic sandwich panel produced by a 3D
printer.
2.2. Fabrication of PMMA/CNT nanocomposites
This study used Evnik Industries-made methylmethacrylate (PMMA)
powder with a specific weight of 1190 kg/m3, dimethylformamide
Fig. 1. : Re-entrant auxetic sandwich panel made by a 3D printer.
M.H. Namdari Pour et al. Materials Today Communications 34 (2023) 104936

solvent, sulfuric acid, and 30% hydrogen peroxide solution produced by Table 1
the Merck Co, Germany. The nanoparticles used in this research were Physical and mechanical properties of the materials.
single-walled carbon nanotubes of 98% purity produced by Nano­ Properties PMMA Single-walled CNT
structured & Amorphous Materials Inc., Los Alamos, USA. Fig. 2 illus­ 3
Density (kg/m ) 1190 2180
trates an SEM image of single-walled carbon nanotubes. Other physical Young modulus (GPa) 2.8 1523
and mechanical properties of materials are given in Table 1. Yield strength (MPa) 103 20,000
Before being mixed, PMMA granules (Fig. 3) were desiccated at Tensile strength (MPa) 73 198
120 ◦ C for 2 h. To synthesize nanocomposite foams, carbon nanotubes of Melting point (◦ C) 115 –
Heat deflection temperature (◦ C) 95
a certain weight percentage were added to the dimethylformamide
–
Purity percentage (%) – 98
(DMF) solution and mixed with an ultrasonic stirrer for 60 min. Then, Length-to-diameter ratio – 200–600
PMMA granules were added to the DMF-carbon nanotubes mixture and Specific surface area (m2/g) – 90–120
mixed with a mechanical stirrer at 450 rpm and 90 ◦ C for 3 h. In the
following, the nanocomposite dough-like mixture was prepared and
poured into the mold, the re-entrant auxetic sandwich panel. In the end,
the product was desiccated at 40 ◦ C for 20 h. Since experimental test
results were used to validate the finite element models, two types of
0.0 wt% and 2 wt% PMMA nanocomposite foams were fabricated.

2.3. Uniaxial compression test

Using a universal strength machine, the compression tests were

carried out on the 3D printed re-entrant auxetic sandwich panels. Uni­
axial compressive stress and strain were measured according to the
ASTM D1621 standard. For this purpose, the produced samples were
subjected to compressive loading using a SAF-250-model Universal
Cantam machine which is shown in Fig. 4. The loading velocity was
equal to 0.5 mm/s. The structures were compressed until 60% of their
height was reached (beyond this point, the structure became denser). A
data acquisition device acquired force-displacement curves during the
experiment as the values were used to validate the finite element model
results.
Fig. 3. PMMA granule.
3. Finite element modeling

This research used the multi-scale finite element method to simulate

the nanocomposites, considering different phases of the nanocomposite,
including matrices, nanoparticles, and interfaces between them. In the
present numerical simulation, it is assumed that the nanoparticles are
randomly distributed in the matrix with a Gaussian distribution.
Therefore, the assumption of agglomeration is not included in the finite
element model. Assuming the complete cohesion between nanoparticles
and the matrix is often unrealistic, the CZM concept was used to increase
modeling accuracy, as described in the following.

3.1. Developing a geometric model

Fig. 5a shows the geometric design of the re-entrant auxetic

Fig. 4. Uniaxial compression test of 3D printed re-entrant auxetic sand­

wich panel.

sandwich panel filled with carbon nanotubes-reinforced PMMA foam.

Consistent with Fig. 5b, in the finite element model, carbon nanotubes
are simulated in cylinders of 4 µm long and 20 nm in diameter,
randomly distributed in the polymer matrix. The figure also shows that
the length and width of the sandwich panel in all the samples under
study areLc = 101 mmand Wc = 71 mm. The length of the inclined and
vertical struts are l andh = βl. The thickness of the struts cross-section is.
Here, β is the length ratio and α is the aspect ratio. The re-entrant be­
tween the vertical struts and struts inclined is θ. Thus, the geometry of
lattice core cells depends on four l, α, β, and θ parameters shown in
Fig. 2. : Scanning electron microscope image of single-walled car­
Fig. 5c.
bon nanotubes.

3
M.H. Namdari Pour et al.
Fig. 5. (a) Geometric model of a re-entrant auxetic sandwich panel filled with
carbon nanotubes-reinforced PMMA foam, (b) close up of a polymer matrix in
the presence of carbon nanotubes, and (c) dimensional characteristics of a
single cell.
To simulate the real conditions of the presence of carbon nano­
particles in the matrix, carbon nanotubes were located irregularly and
randomly. The algorithm shows the random presence of nanoparticles in
the matrix with a Gaussian distribution. The carbon nanotubes take on a
cylindrical shape consistent with their geometric forms in the three-
dimensional model. Because of the specific dimensions of carbon
nanotubes and their volume fraction, nanoparticles inside the foam are
randomly distributed and do not interfere with each other. Fig. 5b il­
lustrates a sample carbon nanotube distributed in the matrix. Also, the
matrix is made of PMMA foam with homogeneous material. The CZM
constraint was used to define the interaction between the nanoparticles
and the matrix interfaces. In this type of modeling, the load applied to
the nanocomposite is transferred to the matrix as force and displacement
are then transferred between the matrix and the nanoparticles, which
can thus help examine the mechanical behavior of the nanocomposite.
3.2. Meshing and loading
To perform the three-dimensional nonlinear finite element analyses,
quasi-static compressive loading was applied to the upper surface of the
samples at 0.5 mm/min, as shown in Fig. 6. For this purpose, the
ABAQUS/Explicit commercial software was used. Because of the
nonlinear behavior of materials and larger deformations, the Newton-
Fig. 6. Finite element model of re-entrant auxetic sandwich panel filled with
nanocomposite reinforced PMMA foam with 2 wt% of carbon nanotubes.
4
Materials Today Communications 34 (2023) 104936
Raphson solution was employed to solve the equations. The co­
efficients required for CZM simulation were calculated by calibrating the
results of finite element models with those of the experimental tests. The
geometric model was meshed using three-dimensional nonlinear ten-
noded C3D10M solid elements, and the appropriate dimensions of the
elements were measured to be 0.2 mm after the independence of the
mesh was examined. Fig. 6 shows the meshed model of the samples
along with boundary and loading conditions. The PMMA foam rein­
forced with 0–6% carbon nanotubes was examined in a parametric
study.
3.3. Interaction between CNT and PMMA foam
The CZM theory based on force-displacement diagrams was
employed to model the contact area between the CNT and the foam.
Fig. 7 shows the force-displacement curve of this model. This model
assumes that three parameters can describe all the micro-crack and the
fracture process mechanisms as the strength of the cohesive zone (τmax ),
the critical separation distance (Smax ), which for values higher than that,
the cohesive surface loses its capacity to withstand the stress and has the
cracks grow, and the parameter n that indicates exponential changes of
the fracture zone. The force-displacement diagram parameters used in
the finite element model are obtained by calibrating the results of the
finite element model with those of the experimental test.
3.4. Mechanical properties
The elastic behavior model was used to simulate the mechanical
properties of carbon nanotubes. Because Young’s modulus of carbon
nanotubes is much greater than that of polymers, the behavior of carbon
nanotubes will be elastic (see Table 1). For the PMMA polymer, the
hyperelastic behavioral model was employed while the stress-strain
curve of pure polymer was extracted from our previous research [23],
shown in Fig. 8a Also, the PLA stress-strain curve was employed
consistent with the experimental results referred to in [28], shown in
Fig. 8b.
4. Results and discussion
In this section, load and displacement data produced from the
compression tests and modeling was recorded and used for further
analysis. The samples are named CSP-PMMA-A, where A is the volume
fraction of carbon nanotubes. CSP represents the compressive static
pressure. However, it should be stated that the results are based on l =
9 cm,α = 0.1,β = 1.78, and θ = 60 , unless the relevant values are
◦
given.
4.1. Validation of the results
To verify the results of the multi-scale finite element model, the
experimental results from the load-displacement curve as well as those
of the finite element model for two samples of re-entrant auxetic sand­
wich panel, i.e., one filled with pure PMMA foam and the other with
Fig. 7. Traction-separation behavior of the cohesive zone.
M.H. Namdari Pour et al.
Fig. 8. (a) PMMA stress-strain curve [[23]] and (b) PLA stress-strain curve [[28]].
carbon nanotubes-reinforced PMMA foam are illustrated in Fig. 9. The
maximum force values at the initial peak for CSP-PMMA-0 are similar
and agree well with an experimental value of 739 N with ~2% error.
According to Fig. 9, it is seen that the force-displacement curve un­
dergoes three completely distinct stages within the compression test.
Initially, the elastic bending of the cell wall creates an elastic zone in the
force-displacement curve of the structure. The plastic buckling and
collapse of the cells cause a large and relatively smooth zone. After the
plastic cell collapse ends, a zone known as structural densification be­
gins, wherein the interaction of the cells causes a sharp increase in force.
Two major differences are seen in the force-displacement curve of
samples reinforced with carbon nanotubes and those with the base
sample, one being the elastic zone of the curve and the other force
fluctuations in zone B of the force-displacement curve. For CSP-PMMA-
0 and CSP-PMMA-2 samples, the first cell walls experience buckling and
collapse at displacements of 1.18 mm and 4.43 mm, respectively, and
the fracture phenomenon in the structure begins. It is seen that the
addition of 2 wt% of carbon nanotubes increases the width of the elastic
Fig. 9. Force vs. displacement curves obtained from the experimental test and
finite element simulations of the re-entrant auxetic structure filled with pure
PMMA and carbon nanotube-reinforced PMMA.
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Materials Today Communications 34 (2023) 104936
zone by about 270%. This indicates that the addition of carbon nano­
tubes to the re-entrant auxetic cells prevents a sharp drop in force after
the peak point. Furthermore, zone B recommends that the addition of
nanoparticles results in the uniformity and smoothening of the curve
compared to the base sample state, which is due to the greater
compressive strength of the nanocomposite foam that prevents the
sharpness fracture of the cell wall. The maximum collapse forces for
CSP-PMMA-0 and CSP-PMMA-2 samples are 430 N and 753 N, respec­
tively, indicating that the collapse strength of the foam-filled panel in
the presence of 2 wt% of nanotubes increases by 75%. Compared with
CSP-PMMA-0, the average elastic modulus and compressive strength of
CSP-PMMA-2 were increased by 196.34% and 148.75%, respectively.
The above-discussed observations are confirmed in Fig. 10, where
the deformation process of the re-entrant auxetic structure topology is
compared to the experiment and finite element analysis. The results
show that the foam inside the sandwich panel core serves as a support
and mechanism to connect the cell walls, resulting in the structural
integration. This integration increases with the increase of the volume
fraction of nanoparticles. When a cell wall breaks down, the PMMA foam
restricts the relative motion of the adjacent cell walls, and the structure
can desirably withstand the deformation. This phenomenon explains the
uniformity of the stress-strain curve of the samples with carbon nano­
tubes in the plastic collapse zone. Re-entrant auxetic sandwich panel
deform linearly when compressed in-plane because of bending of the cell
walls. In the event that the structure reaches a critical strain limit, the
cells begin to buckle, yield, creep, or fracture due to elastic buckling,
plastic yielding, or brittle fracture.
Considering the compression deformation histories in Fig. 10, the
absorbent foam filled the sandwich panel to provide strength and sup­
port, and the structural integrity was also well maintained. Whenever a
sandwich panel cell wall was broken, the foam limited the relative
motion of the surrounding cell wall, allowing the absorbent foam-filled
sandwich panel to continue to resist deformation as a whole; this is also
why the stress-strain curve displayed a plateau. During the deformation
process of an empty re-entrant auxetic sandwich panel (Fig. 10), the re-
entrant auxetic sandwich panel’s cell walls gradually thickened, which
decreased the area enclosed by the sandwich panel. The filling of the
absorbent foam slowed down the process of the increase in wall thick­
ness of the empty sandwich panel. As a result the sandwich panel and
absorbent foam squeezed against each other, explaining the earlier
occurrence of the densification stage.
The effective Poisson’s ratio of the re-entrant auxetic sandwich panel
is defined as the ratio between the transverse engineering strain, ob­
tained from the horizontal displacement, and the axial engineering
strain, obtained from the vertical displacement. Therefore:
M.H. Namdari Pour et al. Materials Today Communications 34 (2023) 104936

Fig. 10. Deformation and collapse of the re-entrant auxetic sandwich panel filled with PMMA/Carbon nanotube reinforced foam with 2 wt% of carbon nanotubes in
various displacements.

dεlateral ΔL/Lc Fig. 11 shows the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images of
ν= − = − (1)
dεaxial ΔW/Wc pure PMMA foam samples and PMMA nanocomposite reinforced with
2 wt% carbon nanotubes. In all cases, foam present a well-defined
Based on Eq. (1) and experimental observation, the Poisson’s ratio
closed-cell morphology with nonhomogeneous pores. According to
for pure foam and foam reinforced with 2 wt% of CNT is obtained
Fig. 11a, it is possible to see the cell structure with open, half-open and
− 0.16 and − 0.27, respectively.
even closed windows and isolated pores appear in PMMA. According to

Fig. 11. SEM micrographs of the surface of PMMA foam, (a) pure PMMA and (b) PMMA nanocomposite reinforced with 2 wt% CNT.

6
M.H. Namdari Pour et al.
the SEM images related to PMMA foams reinforced with 2 wt% CNT in
Fig. 11b, it is clear that by adding carbon nanotubes to the PMMA ma­
trix, the degree of cell heterogeneity increases, and a unique structure
with small and irregular pores appears. Therefore, in these materials,
nanoparticles act as nucleating materials, leading to heterogeneous
nucleation and increasing the nucleation rate in the foam.
For this reason, due to the presence of nanoparticles in the PMMA
matrix, the homogeneity of the foam cells has been affected, and the
cells have become inhomogeneous and have typical closed-cell
morphology. Also, the presence of CNT fills the voids, and finally, the
dimensions of the created cells become smaller, but their number in­
creases, which can be seen in Fig. 11b. The average cell size and cell
density were calculated via image analysis and obtained as 19.3
± 5.3 µm for pure PMMA and 6.5 ± 3.4 µm for PMMA / 2 wt% CNT.
Because the finite element model accurately predicted the mechan­
ical behavior of the foam-filled panel, the finite element results were
used to examine the effect of different parameters on the compressive
behavior of these structures. Fig. 12 illustrates the effect of the volume
fraction of carbon nanotubes on the force-displacement curve. The re­
sults indicated that with the increase of the volume fraction of carbon
nanotubes, compressive characteristics of the structure improved, as the
addition of 5 wt% of carbon nanotubes increased the collapse force from
430 N to 962 N, indicating the collapse force of the panel improving by
123%. That was due to the improved tensile and compressive strength of
carbon nanotubes-reinforced PMMA foams, resulting in the interaction
between the cell walls of the cores and PMMA foam and the changing of
core deformation pattern. According to Fig. 12a, although the increased
volume fraction of carbon nanotubes increases the collapse strength,
values higher than 2 wt% of carbon nanotubes have little effect on
increasing the collapse strength of the panel; thus, this level of carbon
nanotubes is seen as optimal. Furthermore, Fig. 12b shows that the
Fig. 12. (a) Effect of volume fraction of carbon nanotubes on the force-
displacement curve of a foam-filled re-entrant auxetic panel and (b) effect of
volume fraction of carbon nanotubes on the collapse force.
7
Materials Today Communications 34 (2023) 104936
thickness of the cell wall has a desirable effect on the collapse strength,
which increases with the increase of the thickness. This is explained by
the fact that with the increase of the cell wall thickness, the buckling
force and the breaking strength of the cell wall increase. The bending of
the cell wall indicates the panel is more deformation to be crushed and
capable of absorbing energy.
In addition to the elastic modulus and collapse strength, the specific
energy absorption (SEA) is also one of the main parameters to examine
the mechanical performance of cellular sandwich panels. The specific
energy absorption is measured by the area under the force-displacement
curve and calculated from the following equation:
∫ δs
1
Wv = Fdδ (2)
ρCSP 0
where ρCSP does the total volume of the structure divide the total mass.
Fig. 13 shows the effect of the volume fraction, length, and thickness of
the cell walls on the specific energy absorption and displacement of
0.7Wc. The results revealed optimal values for levels of carbon nano­
tubes and the thickness of the cell walls, for which SEA has the highest
value. Forα = 0.1, SEA in samples filled with pure foam and foam
reinforced with 2 wt% carbon nanotubes is 8.5 kJ and 19.6 kJ, respec­
tively. It is concluded that adding 2 wt% of carbon nanotubes to the
foam increases the energy absorption by 130%. Changing the defor­
mation and fracture mechanism from buckling to breaking and bending
the cell wall can increase the compressive properties of the foam-filled
panel caused by nanoparticles addition to the foam.
Interestingly, there is an optimal value for the volume fraction of
nanoparticles for which SEA has the highest value. Fig. 13a shows that
for α = 0.1,α = 0.2 and α = 0.3 the optimal volume fractions are
2.07 wt%, 1.83 wt%, and 2.05 wt%, respectively, while the SEA de­
creases for nanotube volume fraction higher than these values. Similar
behavior is also noted for the thickness of the cell wall, which with the
wall thickness higher than 0.2, the SEA value decreases. In the mean­
time, although the thickness of the cell wall increases, the energy ab­
sorption increases, but due to the increase in the mass of the structure
the SEA decreases. This is also true of the effect of cell wall length on
SEA. Fig. 13b illustrates that with the increase of the cell wall length, the
SEA always decreases, which is caused by the rapid buckling of the
vertical walls.
5. Conclusion
In the paper, the experimental and finite element results of the 3D
printed re-entrant auxetic structure filled with carbon nanotubes-
reinforced PMMA foam are compared, and the deformation processes
are investigated. Numerical analyses involved the multi-scale finite
element method while carbon nanotubes were distributed in the PMMA
in cylinders with specific dimensions and Gaussian random distribution.
A summary of the results is as follows:
- During the uniaxial compression process, the re-entrant auxetic
structure filled with carbon nanotubes-reinforced PMMA foam
exhibited a more excellent compression response due to the addition
of carbon nanotubes-reinforced PMMA foam.
- The filling of PMMA foam changed the deformation mode of the
empty re-entrant auxetic structure and allowed the absorbent-foam-
filled structure to have excellent mechanical performances.
- With the increase of the volume fraction of carbon nanotubes for up
to 2 wt%, the yield stress, plateau stress, and energy absorption of
the foam-filled structure increased as higher values of carbon
nanotubes had little effect on these mechanical properties.
- Carbone nanotube reinforced foam filling of structure can increase
their mean collapse force and energy absorption capacity up to 123%
and 130%, respectively.
M.H. Namdari Pour et al.
Fig. 13. (a) Effect of cell wall thickness on SEA and (b) effect of cell wall length on SEA.
- At higher volume fractions of carbon nanotubes, the cell walls bent
over each other due to the greater strength of the foam as changes in
the plateau stress zone decreased which was also noted as a relatively
smooth zone on the force-displacement curve.
- Specific absorbed energy in samples filled with pure foam and foam
reinforced with 2 wt% carbon nanotubes is 8.5 kJ and 19.6 kJ,
respectively. It is concluded that adding 2% of carbon nanotubes to
the foam increases the energy absorption by 130%.
- The force-displacement curve in the nanocomposite foam-reinforced
re-entrant auxetic extends without fluctuations after reaching the
maximum value compared to the similar structure without the foam,
which is regarded as a desirable energy absorber.
- CNT exhibited excellent nucleation efficiency, and nanocomposite
foams possessed significantly smaller cell sizes and higher cell den­
sity than pure PMMA foams at the same bulk density. Both open and
closed-cell microcellular nanocomposite foams were successfully
prepared, and the closed-open-cell transition agreed well with the
theoretical prediction.
A comparatively good agreement was found between the proposed
multi-scale finite element model and experimental approaches. This
means that using the precisely performed multi-scale finite element
analysis proposed in the study, it is possible to examine the parametric
investigation for different geometries of mentioned re-entrant auxetic
structure instead of performing actual tests with expensive costs.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
M.H. Namdari Pour: Conceptualization, Methodology, Data cura­
tion, Writing − original draft, Software, Writing. Gholamhassan Pay­
ganeh: Main idea, Methodology, Writing − original draft, Writing −
review & editing, Validation. Mehdi Tajdari: Data curation, Writing −
review & editing.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
the work reported in this paper.
Data availability
The data that has been used is confidential.
8
Materials Today Communications 34 (2023) 104936
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