An experimental and finite element analysis of 3D printed honeycomb structures under axial compression

The present study focuses on maximum compressive force of honeycomb structures produced from polylactic acid (PLA) and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene filament using an Ultimaker hot plate 3D printer. A honeycomb structure with an equal surface area and three different cell sizes and wall thickness was designed. The samples were produced with a cell width (d) of 6 mm, 9 mm, 12 mm, a cell wall thickness (t) of 0.8 mm, 1.2 mm, 1.6 mm and a cell height (h) of 10 mm, 20 mm and 30 mm for each cell width, respectively. The produced samples were weighed in order to calculate their porosity percentages. During the compression test, the highest compressive force was obtained from the samples produced from PLA filament with a cell height of 10 mm, a width of 12 mm and a wall thickness of 1.6 mm. Similarly, a detailed finite elements analysis of three structures with different cell widths and thicknesses using ANSYS® software yielded results similar to the experimental study. ANSYS® results were reliable in the range of approximately 81–98%. Thus, although the cell width in honeycomb structures with an equal surface area was increased using both experimental and finite elements method, it was observed that the wall thickness was directly proportional to a higher maximum compressive force.