Research progress on design, fabrication, and mechanical response of auxetic composite laminated plate structures

The increasing demand for lightweight structures with high damage tolerance in aerospace, protective systems, and transportation has driven the development of advanced composite laminated plates. The negative Poisson’s ratio effect, commonly referred to as the auxetic effect, offers a promising avenue for functional design. Unlike conventional auxetic materials that rely on geometric deformation of microstructural unit cells, composite laminated plates can achieve equivalent in-plane or out-of-plane negative Poisson’s ratio effects through material anisotropy, layup configuration, reinforcement distribution, and interlaminar coupling. This paper reviews recent advances in the design, fabrication, and mechanical response of auxetic composite laminated plates. Predictive design methods are first summarized, including classical laminate theory, three-dimensional elastic constant models, multiscale finite element homogenization, lamination parameters, polar representation, and intelligent optimization algorithms. Experimental fabrication techniques and full-field strain measurement methods are then discussed. The coupling mechanisms between the auxetic effect and key mechanical responses are subsequently analyzed. In dynamic behavior, the auxetic effect alters the stiffness characteristics of laminated structures and couples with shear deformation and geometric nonlinearity. In buckling and thermal buckling behavior, its stabilizing influence is strongly dependent on boundary conditions, loading configurations, and the interplay between transverse deformation and in-plane forces. In impact response, the out-of-plane negative Poisson’s ratio is more closely associated with local contact stiffness and indentation resistance, whereas the in-plane negative Poisson’s ratio primarily affects stress redistribution and damage propagation. The review demonstrates that the mechanical advantages of auxetic composite laminated plates are not dominated solely by the Poisson’s ratio; they are governed by the synergistic effects of layup design, stiffness coupling, reinforcement distribution, boundary conditions, and loading modes. Future research should emphasize multi-objective layup optimization, decoupling auxetic effects from stiffness parameters, and extending current design methodologies to complex engineering plate and shell structures. This review serves as a valuable reference for the design and application of high-performance multifunctional composite laminated plates.