Investigating the Energy Absorption Characteristics of the Tropical Jackfruit (Artocarpus Heterophyllus) Inspired Sandwich Panel

Abstract

Different biological systems and objects have existed in nature in a best-fitted way for millions of years under various environmental conditions. These objects, with their extraordinary features, can be the design inspiration for engineers and scientists. Energy absorption characteristic is an important parameter for structures that safeguard human life and precious goods from accidental loading conditions. Moreover, sandwich panels, known for their excellent weight-to-stiffness ratio, are widely used for tailoring this purpose. In this study, a bio-inspired sandwich panel has been developed, drawing inspiration from the spiky structure of the outer shell of the tropical Jackfruit. The energy absorption characteristics and some other parameters are investigated using a computational approach and compared with two other types of structures (i.e., solid and hollow structures). The computational approach primarily entails a nonlinear static analysis that emulates a quasi-static compression test. Compared to the solid structure, the proposed biomimetic structure exhibits a mass and volume reduction of approximately 82% and 83%, respectively. The densification strain is also higher than the solid one, which ultimately increases the effective crushing distance for the proposed structure. In addition, the energy absorption (EA) and specific energy absorption (SEA) of the proposed biomimetic structure are approximately 4 and 2.5 times higher than those of the hollow structure. However, further investigations are required to justify its feasibility as an efficient energy absorber.