Identification of two-dimensional pantographic structure via a linear D4 orthotropic second gradient elastic model

A linear elastic second gradient orthotropic two-dimensional solid that is invariant under \(90^{\circ }\) rotation and for mirror transformation is considered. Such anisotropy is the most general for pantographic structures that are composed of two identical orthogonal families of fibers. It is well known in the literature that the corresponding strain energy depends on nine constitutive parameters: three parameters related to the first gradient part of the strain energy and six parameters related to the second gradient part of the strain energy. In this paper, analytical solutions for simple problems, which are here referred to the heavy sheet, to the nonconventional bending, and to the trapezoidal cases, are developed and presented. On the basis of such analytical solutions, gedanken experiments were developed in such a way that the whole set of the nine constitutive parameters is completely characterized in terms of the materials that the fibers are made of (i.e., of the Young’s modulus of the fiber materials), of their cross sections (i.e., of the area and of the moment of inertia of the fiber cross sections), and of the distance between the nearest pivots. On the basis of these considerations, a remarkable form of the strain energy is derived in terms of the displacement fields that closely resembles the strain energy of simple Euler beams. Numerical simulations confirm the validity of the presented results. Classic bone-shaped deformations are derived in standard bias numerical tests and the presence of a floppy mode is also made numerically evident in the present continuum model. Finally, we also show that the largeness of the boundary layer depends on the moment of inertia of the fibers.