The value of the 3D cellular structure
With most prevailing composite structural designs being 2D, work has been focused on the design of fiber reinforced composites with excellent in-plane properties. However, there is a question that is subtly avoided: How about multi-axial loading and out-of-plane loading?
My belief is that you can design for performance, but you can't design for situation. Structures should be designed according to the situations (often unexpected), not they way they are supposed to be used.
This common misconcept is often offset by modern design and control engineering, which helped reducing or eliminating uncertainty in a variety of applications and industries. However there still exist a large category of applications where unexpectable is expected, for example, space travel and implants. There can be measurements that reduce the risk, but could not completely eliminate them.
Although not as sound in performance as the fiber reinforced composites in the two-directional loading, 3D composites might offer an alternative of total prediction and assurance of performance in all loading directions, with might become a favorable compromise.