Low-Velocity Impact Behavior of 3D Printed Sandwich Composite with Polylactic Acid–Micro-crystalline Cellulose Bio-inspired Xylotus Lattice Core: Energy Absorption and Crashworthiness

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2025

Abstract

This study introduces a novel bio-inspired lattice core, the Xylotus core, designed for sandwich composite structures. Inspired by lotus petals and xylem-like tubular geometries, the core is fabricated using a PLA biopolymer reinforced with 4% micro-crystalline cellulose (MCC). It is combined with PETG face sheets, and both components are additive manufactured using multi-nozzle fused filament fabrication at varying layer thicknesses (0.2 mm, 0.3 mm, and 0.4 mm) and structural orientations (in-plane and out of plane). Low-velocity impact tests were conducted at drop heights ranging from 0.5 m to 1.1 m to evaluate energy absorption, indentation depth, and crashworthiness. Results indicate that the out-of-plane Xylotus structure, with perpendicular tubular elements, absorbed 2.7% more energy than the in-plane configuration. Among all variations, the 0.2-mm layer thickness showed the highest energy absorption and crash resistance. Micro x-ray CT analysis revealed that the 0.2 mm out-of-plane samples exhibited 15.1% and 16.4% lower indentation depths compared to the 0.3-mm and 0.4-mm samples, respectively. Comparative evaluation confirms the superior performance of the PLA-4% MCC Xylotus core over existing lattice designs, especially in terms of energy absorption and crash efficiency.

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