Effect of multi-cell approach on crashworthiness performance of 3D-printed thin-walled structures under lateral compression loading for unmanned aerial vehicle applications

Recent technological advancements in unmanned aerial vehicles have led to their use in various military and civilian applications. However, weather conditions, operator faults, and electronic or mechanical problems can result in unmanned aerial vehicle accidents. In the event of an accident, energy-absorbing structures can be placed in specific regions of vehicles to protect sensitive and costly cameras, sensors, and cargo from damage, while also preserving the vehicle's structural integrity. In this study, thin-walled energy absorbers with circular, square, hexagonal, and reentrant geometries were proposed, and the experimental investigation focused on the effect of increasing the number of cells on their crashworthiness performance and deformation mechanisms. Lateral compressive load was applied to thin-walled structures produced by fused deposition modeling technology using advanced polylactic acid filament. Experimental results showed that the triple-cell reentrant thin-walled structure demonstrated promising results for unmanned aerial vehicle applications, as it exhibited the highest mean crushing force, energy absorption, and specific energy absorption values. Thanks to the unique geometry of the reentrant structure, a gradual collapse mode was observed, and as a result, the triple-cell reentrant structure exhibited high energy absorption performance.