Tensile mechanical properties of a zero Poisson’s ratio （ZPR） honeycomb structure suitable for morphing application is studied. A theoretical method for calculating in-plane tensile modulus of ZPR cellular structures is proposed based on energy method， and the impacts of the unit cell geometrical configurations on in-plane tensile modulus is studied systematically based on finite element （FE） simulation. Then， experimental tests validate the feasibility and effectiveness of the theoretical and FE analysis. In addition， to describe the nonlinear deformation regularity of ZPR cellular structures， FE simulation with using aluminum alloy and steel as the workpiece is built and the relationship between the deformation and the residual strain is studied. Results show that these cell geometric parameters and material performance provide different contributions to the effective mechanical properties of ZPR cellular structures， which suggests that the in-plane mechanics of ZPR cellular structures can be manipulated by designing cell geometrical parameters and material selection. Furthermore，when selecting the base material， in order to take into account both the “in-plane” stiffness and the “out-of-plane” load-bearing capacity， not only materials with a small Young’s modulus should be selected to reduce its driving force， but also materials with a large elastic section should be selected to reduce residual deformation.