A study on the mean crushing strength of hexagonal multi-cell thin-walled structures

•The low speed compressive tests on three types of aluminum honeycomb panels.•Development of a new theoretical model for predicting the crushing behavior of hexagonal multi-cell thin-walled structures.•Parameters calibration for the new theoretical model based on numerical simulation results.•Comparison of the new theoretical model predictions and the results based on similar studies.

This paper presents a study to extend a previously developed theoretical model to predict the crushing behavior of hexagonal multi-cell thin-walled structures, e.g. honeycombs under quasi-static loading. The low speed compressive tests were conducted on three types of aluminum honeycomb panels. Based on the test data and existing theoretical models, a new analytical model was developed to predict its mean crushing strength. Some key parameters in this new model were determined with the finite element (FE) method. Then the predictions based on the new model were compared with the results reported in the published literature. It has been shown that the new model has a similar or better performance compared to its counterparts. Considering its concise expression, the newly developed model can be deemed as a convenient computational tool in engineering practice.