A multifunctional heterogeneous structure inspired by shell brick-mud structure: Balancing noise reduction and mechanical performance

Electric armoured vehicles, which are crucial for strategic operations, must possess superior mechanical properties and noise reduction to maintain normal functionality. However, achieving high energy absorption and noise reduction performance simultaneously is challenging with a single uniform material or structure. This study introduces heterogeneous structures with metal lattice skeletons filled with polymer materials. The skeleton, known as the bionic mantis shrimp structure (BMS), is filled with polyurethane and epoxy. Impedance tube experiments revealed that the sound absorption coefficients of Heterostructure-polyurethane foam (HS-PU) and Heterostructure-epoxy (HS-EP) are significantly higher than BMS. HS-PU achieved an average sound insulation of 33.6 dB, marking a 739 % improvement over BMS. Compression tests show that polymer filling can inhibit the destructive collapse of BMS and enhance its mechanical performance. HS-EP exhibits specific strength and specific energy absorption values of 57 MPa/(g·cm−3) and 30.75 J/g, respectively, representing an increase of 67.6 % and 315 % compared to BMS. Additionally, as the volume fraction of BMS increased in the heterogeneous structure, the elastic modulus and compressive strength increase while the specific energy absorption decreased. This research suggest that the design of metal/polymer heterogeneous structures offers a promising approach for developing high-strength and noise-reducing protective structures. [Display omitted]