Hexagonal tubes on both sides of a honeycomb sheet​
​by Sándor Kabai
Mount hexagonal tubes on both sides of a honeycomb sheet consisting of units formed by three rhombuses. A rhombic dodecahedron (RD) is shown at the middle to indicate how these rhombuses correspond to three faces of the RD. A similar geometry is often used for creating lightweight structures. Bees seem to build their hives this way, too.
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Manipulate[Module[{},​​t=1;​​u=1/Sqrt[2];​​d=t/Sqrt[3];​​z=Sqrt[(2u)^2-(2d)^2];​​vA={2d,0,z};​​vAA={2d,0,grow};​​vB={d,t,z/2};​​vBB={d,t,grow};​​s1=Polygon[{vA,vB,vBB,vAA}];​​vC={0,0,0};​​vD={d,-t,z/2};​​vDD={d,-t,grow};​​s2=Polygon[{vA,vD,vDD,vAA}];​​​​r1=Table[Rotate[Polygon[{vA,vB,vC,vD}],i2Pi/3+Pi/6,{0,0,1}],{i,3}];​​side1=Translate[Table[Rotate[Polygon[{vA,vB,vBB,vAA}],i2Pi/3+Pi/6,{0,0,1}],{i,3}],{0,0,el}];​​side2=Translate[Table[Rotate[Polygon[{vA,vD,vDD,vAA}],i2Pi/3+Pi/6,{0,0,1}],{i,3}],{0,0,el}];​​​​rd=GraphicsComplex[PolyhedronData["RhombicDodecahedron","VertexCoordinates"],Polygon[PolyhedronData["RhombicDodecahedron","FaceIndices"]]];​​rdn=Rotate[Translate[Scale[Rotate[rd,-ArcTan[Sqrt[2]],{1,0,0}],0.99Sqrt[3/2]{1,1,1}],{0,0,Sqrt[3/2]}],Pi/3,{0,0,1}];​​​​points1=Table[{(2j-i),Sqrt[3]i,0},{i,1,n},{j,i,n}];​​points2=Table[{-2j+i,-Sqrt[3]i,0},{i,1,n},{j,i,n}];​​t1=Map[Translate[{side1,side2,Yellow,r1},#]&,points1];​​t2=Map[Translate[{side1,side2,Yellow,r1},#]&,points2];​​​​h1=Table[Rotate[{{Red,r1},t1,t2},i2Pi/3,{0,0,1}],{i,3}];​​h2=Translate[Rotate[{rdn,h1},Pi,{1,0,0},{0,0,z/2-sep}],{1,d,0}];​​​​Graphics3D[{{{Green,rdn},h1,h2}},BoxedFalse,SphericalRegionTrue,ViewPoint{4,4,2},ViewAngle0.16]],​​{{n,2,"frequency"},0,4,1,RadioButton},​​{{grow,2.5,"grow walls"},1,3.5},​​{{sep,0,"separate"},0,2,ControlPlacementLeft,ImageSize->Tiny},​​{{el,0,"elevate"},0,2,ControlPlacementLeft,ImageSize->Tiny},​​TrackedSymbols{n,grow,sep,el}]
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frequency
0
1
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grow walls
separate
elevate