Effective elastic properties of triangular grid structures

An energetic homogenization procedure is proposed for the determination of effective elastic properties of grid structures such as sandwich cores. The method is based on the assumption of the same average distribution of specific strain energy in the real microstructure and the effective homogenized medium. For a representative volume element, the strain energy is evaluated comparatively by an analytical approach and by the finite element method. The effective elastic grid properties are derived by differentiation of the specific strain energy with respect to the macroscopic strain components. The procedure is applied successfully to the analysis of the effective elastic properties of triangular grid structures. The dependence of the effective properties on both, the grid geometry and the cell wall material is discussed in detail. © 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.