Review on impact, crushing response and applications of re-entrant core sandwich structures

Auxetic sandwich structures are gaining attention because of the negative Poisson’s ratio effect offered by these structures. Re-entrant core was one configuration of the auxetic structures. There is a growing concern about the design and behavior of re-entrant cores in aerospace, marine and protection applications. Several researchers proposed various designs of re-entrant core sandwiches with various materials. The purpose of this study is to review the most recent advances in re-entrant core sandwich structures. This review serves as a guide for researchers conducting further research in this wide field of study.

The re-entrant core sandwich structures were reviewed in terms of their design improvements, impact and quasi-static crushing responses. Several design improvements were reviewed including 2D cell, 3D cell, gradient, hierarchical and hybrid configurations. Some common applications of the re-entrant core sandwiches were given at the end of this paper with suggestions for future developments in this field.

Generally, the re-entrant configuration showed improved energy absorption and impact response among auxetic structures. The main manufacturing method for re-entrant core manufacturing was additive manufacturing. The negative Poisson’s ratio effect of the re-entrant core provided a wide area of research.

Generally, re-entrant cores were mentioned in the review articles as part of other auxetic structures. However, in this review, the focus was solely made on the re-entrant core sandwiches with their mechanics.