The design of graded and multifunctional lattice cores is driven by the increasing demand for high-performance components in lightweight engineering. This trend benefits from significant achievements in additive manufacturing, where the lattice core and the face sheets are fabricated simultaneously in a single print job. This work systematically compares the mechanical performance of sandwich panels comprising various graded lattice cores subjected to concentrated loads. In addition to graded lattice cores, uniform lattices and conventional honeycomb cores are analyzed. To obtain an optimized graded lattice core, a fully stressed design method is applied. Stresses and displacements are determined using a linear elastic analytical model that allows grading the core properties in a layerwise manner through the core thickness. The analysis indicates the superior performance of graded lattice cores compared to homogeneous lattice cores. However, conventional honeycombs outperform graded lattice cores in terms of load-to-weight ratio and stiffness-to-weight ratio. This study provides valuable insights for the design of lattice core sandwich panels and the advantages of several design approaches.

Many plant materials in nature have the ability to change their shape to respond to external stimuli, such as humidity or moisture, to ensure their survival or safe seed release. A well-known example for this phenomenon is the pinecone, which is able to open its scales at low humidity due to the specific bilayer structures of the scale. Inspired by this, we developed a novel humidity-driven actuator based on paper. This was realized by the lamination of untreated paper made from eucalyptus fibers to a paper–carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) composite. As observed, the hygroexpansion of the composite can be easily controlled by the amount of CMC in the impregnated paper sheet, which, thus, controls the morphologic deformation of the paper bilayer. For a more detailed understanding of these novel paper soft robots, we also studied the dynamic water vapor adsorption, polymer distribution and hygroexpansion of the paper–polymer composites. Finally, we applied a geometrically nonlinear finite element model to predict the bending behavior of paper bilayers and compared the results to experimental data. From this, we conclude that due to the complexity of structure of the paper composite, a universal prediction of the hygromorphic behavior is not a trivial matter.

Additive manufacturing enables the fabrication of lightweight structures with complex geometries, offering significant potential in aerospace and biomedical applications. Triply periodic minimal surface (TPMS) lattice structures are of particular interest due to their geometry. However, their intricate geometries pose challenges for both experimental characterization and numerical simulation. This study numerically investigates the effective mechanical properties and dynamic response of AlSi10Mg TPMS structures produced by laser powder bed fusion (PBF-LB/M). Using a micro–mesoscale approach with periodic boundary conditions, Young’s modulus, shear modulus, and Poisson’s ratio in the elastic region using the Johnson–Cook plasticity model are analyzed. Finite element simulations of the representative volume element (RVE) are employed to assess energy absorption and damage evolution under high strain rates, incorporating a ductile damage model. The performance of sheet-based TPMS lattices, namely, Schwarz–Primitive, Gyroid, Schwarz–Diamond, and IWP, is compared with strut-based lattices, namely, BCC and FCC, across volume fractions of 20–40%. Results demonstrate the superior stiffness and energy absorption of TPMS lattices, where Schwarz–Diamond and IWP outperformed the other structures, highlighting their advantages over conventional strut-based designs. This comprehensive numerical framework provides new insights into the high strain-rate behavior of TPMS structures and supports their design for demanding engineering applications.

This paper introduces a closed-form analytical approach to the postbuckling analysis of simply supported shear-deformable composite laminated plates under uniaxial compression. The analysis is based on three different laminate theories in order to explicitly account for transverse shear deformations and uses a geometrically nonlinear formulation in conjunction with the Ritz method in order to enable closed-form analytical expressions for the state variables of buckled composite plates. Results are presented for several different plate configurations, and a comparison is performed with literature results as well as comparative finite element computations which leads to a very satisfying results accuracy. The presented analysis method delivers results without any significant numerical effort and is thus especially suited for practical applications where such postbuckling analyses are performed many times.

Additive manufacturing (AM) offers new possibilities to fabricate and design lightweight lattice materials. Due to the superior mechanical properties of these lattice structures, they have the potential to replace honeycombs as cores in sandwich panels. In addition to the advantage of the integral fabrication thanks to AM, additively manufactured lattice core sandwich panels may be also used as heat exchangers, enabling a multifunctional use of the core. To ensure a reliable and safe structure, the mechanical response of lattice core sandwich panels under given load conditions must be predictable. In conventional sandwich panels subjected to compressive loads, the sandwich’s global buckling and the face sheets’ local buckling are the dominant failure modes. In constrast, core strut buckling may be the critical failure mode in lattice core sandwich panels. Therefore, an analytical 2D model to predict the local buckling of lattice core struts is considered in this study. Furthermore, the critical load for global buckling is obtained based on the first-order shear deformation theory. Thus, the transition from local buckling to global buckling depending on the length-to-thickness ratio is captured by the presented model. The comparison with finite element modeling of the sandwich model with truss cores has proved the accuracy of the derived model.

This paper explores the application of the generalized beam theory (GBT) in analyzing the buckling behavior of isotropic and composite thin-walled beams with open cross-sections, both with and without branching. The composite beams are composed of orthotropic laminate layers arranged in arbitrary symmetrical orientations. By integrating GBT with the Ritz method and solving the associated generalized eigenvalue problem (GEP), an efficient and robust semi-analytical framework is developed to assess the stability of such isotropic and orthotropic members. The novelty of this work is not the GBT cross-sectional formulation itself, but its implementation at the beam level using a Ritz formulation leading to a generalized eigenvalue problem for the critical buckling loads and mode shapes that capture coupled global, local, and distortional modes in isotropic and orthotropic composite members. This makes the method suitable for early-stage design studies and parametric investigations, where many design variants (geometry, laminate lay-up, and aspect ratios) must be screened quickly without building large-scale high-fidelity finite element (FE) models for each case. The preliminary outcomes, when compared with those obtained using FE, confirm the approach’s effectiveness in evaluating buckling responses, particularly for open-section composite beams. Ultimately, the combined use of GBT and the Ritz method delivers both physical insight and computational efficiency, allowing engineers and researchers to address complex stability issues that were previously difficult to solve. In summary, the methodology can be correctly used for stability assessment of thin-walled composite members prone to interacting global–local–distortional buckling, especially when rapid, mechanistically transparent predictions are required rather than purely numerical FE output.