Development of a sandwich-structured shape memory alloy honeycomb damper

This paper presents novel sandwich-structured superelastic shape memory alloy (SMA) honeycomb dampers. The system comprises a superelastic SMA honeycomb plate that provides self-centering and large deformation capacity, a high-damping rubber core, metallic and rubber infills (round or hexagonal) that support the SMA walls and dissipate energy, and two encased steel plates to restrain out-of-plane buckling of the honeycomb plate. First, the numerical simulation method is validated against experimental results of an non-sandwiched SMA honeycomb damper. Subsequently, a comparative study is conducted to assess the mechanical performance and local stress and strain distribution of various sandwich-structured SMA honeycomb dampers. Finally, the optimal configuration is identified. The results demonstrate that sandwich-structured SMA honeycomb dampers substantially enhance strength and energy-dissipation capacity while effectively reducing stress and strain concentrations compared with their non-sandwiched counterparts.