Tunable Poisson’s ratio design in beetle-inspired honeycomb cores: in-plane compression mechanisms and dual-mode deformation

preprint OA: closed CC-BY-4.0
📄 Open PDF Full text JSON View at publisher

Abstract

Abstract The beetle elytron has been identified as a natural sandwich structure whose core topology can be abstracted as a combination of honeycomb cells and trabeculae. Inspired by this biological architecture, the corresponding inspired structure is referred to as the beetle elytron plate (BEP). In this work, three types of cores—End-trabecular BEP (EBEP), Mid-trabecular BEP (MBEP), and the conventional honeycomb plate (HP)—were constructed based on the presence and location of trabeculae. Two cell geometries (regular and concave) and two global orientations (transverse and longitudinal) were also considered. A systematic study was conducted to investigate their load-bearing characteristics, deformation patterns, and Poisson’s-ratio evolution under in-plane compression. The results indicate that (1) MBEP exhibits the best overall performance for both cell geometries, outperforming EBEP and conventional HP in load-bearing capacity, deformation stability, and consistency of Poisson’s ratio; (2) regular configurations exhibit positive Poisson’s ratios, whereas concave configurations show negative Poisson’s ratios, and MBEP undergoes the most pronounced lateral deformation, highlighting the dominant role of trabecula placement in governing cell-wall compliance and transverse deformation modes; (3) a significant coupling exists between trabecula placement and loading direction, such that MBEP demonstrates higher stability under transverse compression, while EBEP shows stronger shape-recovery capability under longitudinal compression, indicating that the structural response is highly sensitive to global orientation. This study reveals the coupled regulatory mechanisms among trabecula placement, cell geometry, and layout direction, providing insights for the development of bio-inspired lightweight structures and mechanical metamaterials with tunable Poisson’s ratios, high stability, and enhanced load-bearing performance.
Full text 19,428 characters · extracted from preprint-html · click to expand
Tunable Poisson’s ratio design in beetle-inspired honeycomb cores: in-plane compression mechanisms and dual-mode deformation | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Tunable Poisson’s ratio design in beetle-inspired honeycomb cores: in-plane compression mechanisms and dual-mode deformation Yiheng Song This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8185802/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract The beetle elytron has been identified as a natural sandwich structure whose core topology can be abstracted as a combination of honeycomb cells and trabeculae. Inspired by this biological architecture, the corresponding inspired structure is referred to as the beetle elytron plate (BEP). In this work, three types of cores—End-trabecular BEP (EBEP), Mid-trabecular BEP (MBEP), and the conventional honeycomb plate (HP)—were constructed based on the presence and location of trabeculae. Two cell geometries (regular and concave) and two global orientations (transverse and longitudinal) were also considered. A systematic study was conducted to investigate their load-bearing characteristics, deformation patterns, and Poisson’s-ratio evolution under in-plane compression. The results indicate that (1) MBEP exhibits the best overall performance for both cell geometries, outperforming EBEP and conventional HP in load-bearing capacity, deformation stability, and consistency of Poisson’s ratio; (2) regular configurations exhibit positive Poisson’s ratios, whereas concave configurations show negative Poisson’s ratios, and MBEP undergoes the most pronounced lateral deformation, highlighting the dominant role of trabecula placement in governing cell-wall compliance and transverse deformation modes; (3) a significant coupling exists between trabecula placement and loading direction, such that MBEP demonstrates higher stability under transverse compression, while EBEP shows stronger shape-recovery capability under longitudinal compression, indicating that the structural response is highly sensitive to global orientation. This study reveals the coupled regulatory mechanisms among trabecula placement, cell geometry, and layout direction, providing insights for the development of bio-inspired lightweight structures and mechanical metamaterials with tunable Poisson’s ratios, high stability, and enhanced load-bearing performance. Materials Engineering Mechanical Engineering bio-inspiration beetle elytron Poisson’s ratio in-plane compression Full Text Additional Declarations The authors declare no competing interests. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8185802","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":549413145,"identity":"1e4b9d0d-1198-49da-a525-12b4dfa9fd57","order_by":0,"name":"Yiheng Song","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA1klEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBADHgP2BiBlYEGEWjaYFp4DIC0SxGsBKk4AUURoMbjf/vBxwa/DMuaSz69u+FEgwcDf3p2AX8sxHmPjmX2HeSxn55Td7AE6TOLM2Q2EtLBJ8/Yc5jG4nZN2gweoxUAil5AW9mcQLTfPpN38Q5wWBjNpnh9ALTfYj90myhbJYznGxrwN6TwGZ3LYbssYSPAQ9Avf4eMPH/P8sbY3OH782c03f2zk+Nt78WsBA8a2ZgZQbILYPISVg8GfOiDB/oBI1aNgFIyCUTDSAAD2IUdXRH115AAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"","institution":"Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153-8505, Japan","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Yiheng","middleName":"","lastName":"Song","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-11-23 13:44:38","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":{"humanSubjects":false,"vertebrateSubjects":false,"conflictsOfInterestStatement":false,"humanSubjectEthicalGuidelines":false,"humanSubjectConsent":false,"humanSubjectClinicalTrial":false,"humanSubjectCaseReport":false,"vertebrateSubjectEthicalGuidelines":false},"doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8185802/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8185802/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":96702738,"identity":"81937d65-c578-414e-96c3-7952d8efdec6","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-11-25 08:45:51","extension":"docx","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":3498914,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"3.3E.docx","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8185802/v1/a77f0bbc0680fbb66a607d1e.docx"},{"id":96711467,"identity":"7467a7cd-b2aa-4141-8ec3-b0ed26831c1a","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-11-25 10:12:02","extension":"json","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":342,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"rs8185802.json","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8185802/v1/c514abde1c685591967a0cf2.json"},{"id":96702730,"identity":"1829bd51-3732-4f77-aa1f-d06fd2b8c67b","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-11-25 08:45:50","extension":"xml","order_by":2,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":76911,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"rs81858020enriched.xml","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8185802/v1/c3e0fd73afb5335291caf947.xml"},{"id":96702732,"identity":"50dc3de2-0b8c-4ba2-a734-943f59251a8f","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-11-25 08:45:50","extension":"png","order_by":3,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":230814,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"floatimage1.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8185802/v1/77f3d3153bd0b4e05258b1f9.png"},{"id":96702733,"identity":"cf39e6c0-a8c7-4f4b-b063-335f41b054bd","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-11-25 08:45:51","extension":"png","order_by":4,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":701496,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"floatimage2.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8185802/v1/8479395b05bac8913ef67934.png"},{"id":96711432,"identity":"7ec88661-b76b-43d0-9e29-2a41efe06bb2","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-11-25 10:12:01","extension":"png","order_by":5,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":480713,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"floatimage3.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8185802/v1/3926f658c420f33f6daa4cbf.png"},{"id":96702737,"identity":"0243dfa5-02a8-488a-8d6a-6e3256888695","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-11-25 08:45:51","extension":"png","order_by":6,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":103918,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"floatimage4.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8185802/v1/9f182ed80451f06c16923a8e.png"},{"id":96702742,"identity":"cbbfaa9a-53a2-4b6b-84ca-091570a1a764","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-11-25 08:45:51","extension":"png","order_by":7,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":996792,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"floatimage5.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8185802/v1/ac85660b7976c557d3f5d5d2.png"},{"id":96702736,"identity":"658f5449-292f-44f0-9bb9-f631b32a688c","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-11-25 08:45:51","extension":"png","order_by":8,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":105626,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"floatimage6.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8185802/v1/2912f8deedeb24f8b7cb1174.png"},{"id":96702744,"identity":"6e25d801-ca03-4e22-9eaf-003f201c5636","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-11-25 08:45:51","extension":"png","order_by":9,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":821592,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"floatimage7.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8185802/v1/d701c319bc90900bf0ade848.png"},{"id":96702735,"identity":"b9b13ae0-3d89-4536-98fe-37c15c8fbd9f","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-11-25 08:45:51","extension":"png","order_by":10,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":33823,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Onlinefloatimage1.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8185802/v1/7871f74a25d305c4c014f262.png"},{"id":96711383,"identity":"3831e761-a6fe-4f2b-93e8-d37e3a482d31","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-11-25 10:11:56","extension":"png","order_by":11,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":122354,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Onlinefloatimage2.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8185802/v1/659cdb4c9b3589d2737799bb.png"},{"id":96711441,"identity":"eb4d4f99-7c27-47a2-842c-7c4051f38e0e","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-11-25 10:12:01","extension":"png","order_by":12,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":62905,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Onlinefloatimage3.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8185802/v1/bf62175a9c140b9dc8abb229.png"},{"id":96702740,"identity":"3ea1c637-775a-4866-a1e8-09b2c27c48d4","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-11-25 08:45:51","extension":"png","order_by":13,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":29669,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Onlinefloatimage4.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8185802/v1/4765daa3d7ec039c10188ea1.png"},{"id":96702747,"identity":"ee5137f5-b98b-41ae-84c6-ff6b9e3e3e39","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-11-25 08:45:51","extension":"png","order_by":14,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":161132,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Onlinefloatimage5.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8185802/v1/50b9e25c55abae51240713c8.png"},{"id":96711329,"identity":"9b4ce446-6ce8-42df-bcdc-21f48c537ed9","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-11-25 10:11:53","extension":"png","order_by":15,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":30085,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Onlinefloatimage6.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8185802/v1/2c7a0c124f15569777198e9b.png"},{"id":96711638,"identity":"49f8de95-d250-440d-853e-89b6ca4db018","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-11-25 10:12:23","extension":"png","order_by":16,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":130162,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Onlinefloatimage7.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8185802/v1/e84dd1b102197894e13e6903.png"},{"id":96702746,"identity":"6b362605-6ea6-42df-a558-77d5af65d197","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-11-25 08:45:51","extension":"xml","order_by":17,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":76332,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"rs81858020structuring.xml","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8185802/v1/c5df4428b549815efa842dcc.xml"},{"id":96702748,"identity":"ef6261c0-14c1-4713-b6f5-040a44b78284","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-11-25 08:45:51","extension":"html","order_by":18,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":84469,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"earlyproof.html","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8185802/v1/5157d2fda5094864cc258356.html"},{"id":96712926,"identity":"8462431d-24ea-4581-b283-573a0f644a35","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-11-25 10:17:49","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1307805,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"3.3E.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8185802/v1_covered_0d285aed-7ca3-4d8f-b842-65f322313fd5.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"The authors declare no competing interests.","formattedTitle":"\u003cp\u003eTunable Poisson’s ratio design in beetle-inspired honeycomb cores: in-plane compression mechanisms and dual-mode deformation\u003c/p\u003e","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"University of Tokyo","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"bio-inspiration, beetle elytron, Poisson’s ratio, in-plane compression","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8185802/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8185802/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eThe beetle elytron has been identified as a natural sandwich structure whose core topology can be abstracted as a combination of honeycomb cells and trabeculae. Inspired by this biological architecture, the corresponding inspired structure is referred to as the beetle elytron plate (BEP). In this work, three types of cores\u0026mdash;End-trabecular BEP (EBEP), Mid-trabecular BEP (MBEP), and the conventional honeycomb plate (HP)\u0026mdash;were constructed based on the presence and location of trabeculae. Two cell geometries (regular and concave) and two global orientations (transverse and longitudinal) were also considered. A systematic study was conducted to investigate their load-bearing characteristics, deformation patterns, and Poisson\u0026rsquo;s-ratio evolution under in-plane compression. The results indicate that (1) MBEP exhibits the best overall performance for both cell geometries, outperforming EBEP and conventional HP in load-bearing capacity, deformation stability, and consistency of Poisson\u0026rsquo;s ratio; (2) regular configurations exhibit positive Poisson\u0026rsquo;s ratios, whereas concave configurations show negative Poisson\u0026rsquo;s ratios, and MBEP undergoes the most pronounced lateral deformation, highlighting the dominant role of trabecula placement in governing cell-wall compliance and transverse deformation modes; (3) a significant coupling exists between trabecula placement and loading direction, such that MBEP demonstrates higher stability under transverse compression, while EBEP shows stronger shape-recovery capability under longitudinal compression, indicating that the structural response is highly sensitive to global orientation. This study reveals the coupled regulatory mechanisms among trabecula placement, cell geometry, and layout direction, providing insights for the development of bio-inspired lightweight structures and mechanical metamaterials with tunable Poisson\u0026rsquo;s ratios, high stability, and enhanced load-bearing performance.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Tunable Poisson’s ratio design in beetle-inspired honeycomb cores: in-plane compression mechanisms and dual-mode deformation","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-11-25 08:45:46","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8185802/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"b180d707-1474-4abd-b64b-6448f3abc010","owner":[],"postedDate":"November 25th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[{"id":58457702,"name":"Materials Engineering"},{"id":58457703,"name":"Mechanical Engineering"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-11-25T08:45:46+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-11-25 08:45:46","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-8185802","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-8185802","identity":"rs-8185802","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}

Text is read by the "Ask this paper" AI Q&A widget below. Extraction quality varies by source — PMC NXML preserves structure cleanly, OA-HTML may include some navigation residue, and OA-PDF can have broken hyphenation. The publisher copy (via DOI) is the canonical version.

My notes (saved in your browser only)

Ask this paper AI returns verbatim quotes from the full text · source: preprint-html

Answers must be backed by verbatim quotes from this paper's full text. Hallucinated quotes are dropped automatically; if no verbatim passage answers the question, we say so. How this works

Citation neighborhood (no data yet)

We don't have any in-corpus citations linked to this paper yet. This is a recent paper (2025) — citers typically take a year or two to land, and the OpenAlex reference graph may still be filling in.

Source provenance

europepmc
last seen: 2026-05-20T01:45:00.602351+00:00
unpaywall
last seen: 2026-05-27T02:00:06.600101+00:00
License: CC-BY-4.0