An Isotropic Auxetic Structural Network with Limited Shear Stiffness

The chiral lattice is a unique structural network not symmetric to its mirror image, and with a negative Poisson’s ratio. Previous investigations have considered this structural network for the design of superior structural components with sandwich construction, but these were limited by the in-plane Poisson’s ratio predicted to be exactly -1. This paper presents estimates of the mechanical properties of the chiral lattice obtained from a multi-cell finite-element model. It is shown that the chiral lattice has a shear stiffness bound by that of the triangular lattice and it is very compliant to direct stresses. The minimum in-plane poisson’s ratio is estimated to be approximately -0.94.