scholarly journals Dynamic crushing behavior of closed-cell aluminum foams based on different space-filling unit cells

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Talebi ◽  
R. Hedayati ◽  
M. Sadighi

AbstractClosed-cell metal foams are cellular solids that show unique properties such as high strength to weight ratio, high energy absorption capacity, and low thermal conductivity. Due to being computation and cost effective, modeling the behavior of closed-cell foams using regular unit cells has attracted a lot of attention in this regard. Recent developments in additive manufacturing techniques which have made the production of rationally designed porous structures feasible has also contributed to recent increasing interest in studying the mechanical behavior of regular lattice structures. In this study, five different topologies namely Kelvin, Weaire–Phelan, rhombicuboctahedron, octahedral, and truncated cube are considered for constructing lattice structures. The effects of foam density and impact velocity on the stress–strain curves, first peak stress, and energy absorption capacity are investigated. The results showed that unit cell topology has a very significant effect on the stiffness, first peak stress, failure mode, and energy absorption capacity. Among all the unit cell types, the Kelvin unit cell demonstrated the most similar behavior to experimental test results. The Weaire–Phelan unit cell, while showing promising results in low and medium densities, demonstrated unstable behavior at high impact velocity. The lattice structures with high fractions of vertical walls (truncated cube and rhombicuboctahedron) showed higher stiffness and first peak stress values as compared to lattice structures with high ratio of oblique walls (Weaire–Phelan and Kelvin). However, as for the energy absorption capacity, other factors were important. The lattice structures with high cell wall surface area had higher energy absorption capacities as compared to lattice structures with low surface area. The results of this study are not only beneficial in determining the proper unit cell type in numerical modeling of dynamic behavior of closed-cell foams, but they are also advantageous in studying the dynamic behavior of additively manufactured lattice structures with different topologies.

Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 249
Author(s):  
Przemysław Rumianek ◽  
Tomasz Dobosz ◽  
Radosław Nowak ◽  
Piotr Dziewit ◽  
Andrzej Aromiński

Closed-cell expanded polypropylene (EPP) foam is commonly used in car bumpers for the purpose of absorbing energy impacts. Characterization of the foam’s mechanical properties at varying strain rates is essential for selecting the proper material used as a protective structure in dynamic loading application. The aim of the study was to investigate the influence of loading strain rate, material density, and microstructure on compressive strength and energy absorption capacity for closed-cell polymeric foams. We performed quasi-static compressive strength tests with strain rates in the range of 0.2 to 25 mm/s, using a hydraulically controlled material testing system (MTS) for different foam densities in the range 20 g/dm3 to 220 g/dm3. The above tests were carried out as numerical simulation using ABAQUS software. The verification of the properties was carried out on the basis of experimental tests and simulations performed using the finite element method. The method of modelling the structure of the tested sample has an impact on the stress values. Experimental tests were performed for various loads and at various initial temperatures of the tested sample. We found that increasing both the strain rate of loading and foam density raised the compressive strength and energy absorption capacity. Increasing the ambient and tested sample temperature caused a decrease in compressive strength and energy absorption capacity. For the same foam density, differences in foam microstructures were causing differences in strength and energy absorption capacity when testing at the same loading strain rate. To sum up, tuning the microstructure of foams could be used to acquire desired global materials properties. Precise material description extends the possibility of using EPP foams in various applications.


Author(s):  
Ramin Hamzehei ◽  
Ali Zolfagharian ◽  
Soheil Dariushi ◽  
Mahdi Bodaghi

Abstract This study aims at introducing a number of two-dimensional (2D) re-entrant based zero Poisson’s ratio (ZPR) graded metamaterials for energy absorption applications. The metamaterials’ designs are inspired by the 2D image of a DNA molecule. This inspiration indicates how a re-entrant unit cell must be patterned along with the two orthogonal directions to obtain a ZPR behavior. Also, how much metamaterials’ energy absorption capacity can be enhanced by taking slots and horizontal beams into account with the inspiration of the DNA molecule’s base pairs. The ZPR metamaterials comprise multi-stiffness unit cells, so-called soft and stiff re-entrant unit cells. The variability in unit cells’ stiffness is caused by the specific design of the unit cells. A finite element analysis (FEA) is employed to simulate the deformation patterns of the ZPRs. Following that, meta-structures are fabricated with 3D printing of TPU as hyperelastic materials to validate the FEA results. A good correlation is observed between FEA and experimental results. The experimental and numerical results show that due to the presence of multi-stiffness re-entrant unit cells, the deformation mechanisms and the unit cells’ densifications are adjustable under quasi-static compression. Also, the structure designed based on the DNA molecule’s base pairs, so-called structure F''', exhibits the highest energy absorption capacity. Apart from the diversity in metamaterial unit cells’ designs, the effect of multi-thickness cell walls is also evaluated. The results show that the diversity in cell wall thicknesses leads to boosting the energy absorption capacity. In this regard, the energy absorption capacity of structure ‘E’ enhances by up to 33% than that of its counterpart with constant cell wall thicknesses. Finally, a comparison in terms of energy absorption capacity and stability between the newly designed ZPRs, traditional ZPRs, and auxetic metamaterial is performed, approving the superiority of the newly designed ZPR metamaterials over both traditional ZPRs and auxetic metamaterials.


2016 ◽  
Vol 08 (07) ◽  
pp. 1640006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fei Shen ◽  
Shangqin Yuan ◽  
Yanchunni Guo ◽  
Bo Zhao ◽  
Jiaming Bai ◽  
...  

This work investigates the energy absorption capacity of polymeric lattice structures through a systemic manufacturing, testing and modeling approaches. The lattice structures are designed to possess periodic cubic geometry with optimized spherical shells located at the cubic corners, and thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) powders are used to fabricate such structures via selective laser sintering, a type of powder-based 3D printing technology. A hyperelastic model that considers the mullins effect and describes the cyclic compression stress–strain behavior of TPU is developed to simulate the mechanical response of its 3D-printed lattice structures under cyclic compression loading. After the validation of the model for printed structure, it is used to predict the energy absorption capacity of various designed structures.


2018 ◽  
Vol 110 (5) ◽  
pp. 707-714 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rouhollah Rostami ◽  
Mohammad Zarrebini ◽  
Khaled Sanginabadi ◽  
Davood Mostofinejad ◽  
Sayyed Mahdi Abtahi ◽  
...  

2017 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 1755-1760 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Uzun

AbstractThis paper describes the compressive crush behaviour of spheres of closed-cell aluminium foams with different diameters (6, 8 and 10 mm) and square tubes filled with these spheres. The spheres of closed-cell aluminium foams are net spherical shape fabricated via powder metallurgy methods by heating foamable precursor materials in a mould. The square tubes were filled by pouring the spheres of closed-cell aluminium foams freely (without any bonding). The compressive crush performance of square tubes filled with spheres of closed-cell aluminum foams were compared to that of the empty tubes. The results show a significant influence of the spheres of closed-cell aluminium foam on the average crushing load of the square tubes. The energy absorption in the square tube filled with spheres of closed-cell aluminium foam with diameters of 10 mm is higher than in the other square tubes. The spheres of closed-cell aluminium foams led to improvement of the energy absorption capacity of empty tubes.


Author(s):  
Xiaobing Dang ◽  
Kai He ◽  
Qiyang Zuo ◽  
Jiuhua Li ◽  
Ruxu Du

It is well known that cellular metal is an ideal structure used in transportation passive safety field for its low density and high energy absorption capacity. In this paper, a kind of regular cellular metal based on cubic structure is proposed. The cubic cells are manufactured through sheet metal stamping process. Then the cells could be bonded together by adhesive to form the cellular structure. The compressive properties of the cellular metal are studied by experiments. The dynamic behaviors are studied by numerical simulations. To distinguish the individual and interactive effects on the energy absorption capacity, a full factorial Design of Experiment with sixteen configurations is carried out based on the four parameters that are essential to the design of cellular metal. The effects of impact velocity on crushing deformation are analyzed. It has been shown that the regular cellular metal based on cubic structure will have a wide application in industry.


Author(s):  
H Geramizadeh ◽  
S Dariushi ◽  
S Jedari Salami

The current study focuses on designing the optimal three-dimensional printed sandwich structures. The main goal is to improve the energy absorption capacity of the out-of-plane honeycomb sandwich beam. The novel Beta VI and Alpha VI were designed in order to achieve this aim. In the Beta VI, the connecting curves (splines) were used instead of the four diagonal walls, while the two vertical walls remained unchanged. The Alpha VI is a step forward on the Beta VI, which was promoted by filleting all angles among the vertical walls, created arcs, and face sheets. The two offered sandwich structures have not hitherto been provided in the literature. All models were designed and simulated by the CATIA and ABAQUS, respectively. The three-dimensional printer fabricated the samples by fused deposition modeling technique. The material properties were determined under tensile, compression, and three-point bending tests. The results are carried out by two methods based on experimental tests and finite element analyses that confirmed each other. The achievements provide novel insights into the determination of the adequate number of unit cells and demonstrate the energy absorption capacity of the Beta VI and Alpha VI are 23.7% and 53.9%, respectively, higher than the out-of-plane honeycomb sandwich structures.


2014 ◽  
Vol 1019 ◽  
pp. 96-102
Author(s):  
Ali Taherkhani ◽  
Ali Alavi Nia

In this study, the energy absorption capacity and crush strength of cylindrical thin-walled structures is investigated using nonlinear Finite Elements code LS-DYNA. For the thin-walled structure, Aluminum A6063 is used and its behaviour is modeled using power-law equation. In order to better investigate the performance of tubes, the simulation was also carried out on structures with other types of cross-sections such as triangle, square, rectangle, and hexagonal, and their results, namely, energy absorption, crush strength, peak load, and the displacement at the end of tubes was compared to each other. It was seen that the circular cross-section has the highest energy absorption capacity and crush strength, while they are the lowest for the triangular cross-section. It was concluded that increasing the number of sides increases the energy absorption capacity and the crush strength. On the other hand, by comparing the results between the square and rectangular cross-sections, it can be found out that eliminating the symmetry of the cross-section decreases the energy absorption capacity and the crush strength. The crush behaviour of the structure was also studied by changing the mass and the velocity of the striker, simultaneously while its total kinetic energy is kept constant. It was seen that the energy absorption of the structure is more sensitive to the striker velocity than its mass.


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