Experimental study of natural cork and cork agglomerates as a substitute for expanded polystyrene foams under compressive loads

Abstract

Author Comments:The authors after the review have prepared all the images to be published in black and white. Fig1 has been generated using PPT, fig 2 is a photo, fig 3 to 11 have been generated using excel and they have been introduced in a word or a power point.All the tables are generated using word.Response to Reviewers: Dear reviewers and editor,We appreciate your consideration and your comments to improve the quality of the paper that we have tried to follow. We send also the manuscript with the modifications highlighted as a suplementary file-Yours faithfully,

The Compressive Behavior and Crashworthiness of Cork: A Review

“…The combination of good energy absorbing capabilities with a unique dimensional recovery endows agglomerated cork with a good crashworthiness and draws attention for safety and energy absorbing devices. In this framework, many research studies decided to delve into agglomerated cork’s dynamic compressive behavior assessing the effect of various design parameters such as specimen thickness [ 55 ], operating temperature [ 48 , 56 , 57 , 58 ] and number of repeated impacts [ 41 , 43 , 59 ], also providing thorough comparisons with more traditional synthetic foams [ 60 , 61 , 62 ] and a numerical simulation of its compressive behavior [ 58 , 62 , 63 ].…”

“…Another key design parameter is the number of impacts that the natural multi-scale foam is expected to withstand. The multiple-impacts performance of agglomerated cork was investigated by Santos et al [ 41 ], by Jardin et al [ 43 ] and by Sanchez-Saez et al [ 59 ] and was further analyzed by research studies that provided a thorough comparison with traditional synthetic foams such as EPS (expanded polystyrene) [ 61 ], EPP (expanded polypropylene) [ 62 ] and PVC (polyvinyl chloride) [ 60 ]. Sanchez-Saez et al [ 59 ] investigated the three-impact response of 140 kg/m 3 agglomerated cork, assessing three different thicknesses and two different impact energies.…”

“…In light of this design freedom, which allows the agglomerated cork’s crashworthiness to be tailored as a function of the main design parameters, the feasibility of agglomerated cork in safety and energy absorbing devices was further investigated, providing a suitable comparison with well-established synthetic foams. In their comparative work, Miralbes et al [ 61 ] pointed out that agglomerated cork and EPS foam display a similar average deceleration of the impactor, i.e., 389.7 m/s 2 for agglomerated cork and 372.1–416.8 m/s 2 for EPS foams, but agglomerated cork is able to provide a much lower deceleration peak of 1475.6 m/s 2 compared to the 1508.8–2078.9 m/s 2 of the EPS foams. Even from the Head Injury Criterion (HIC) and dimensional recovery point of view, agglomerated cork performs better than EPS, providing an HIC equal to 385, which is significantly lower than the 633–660 observed for the EPS foams, and a dimensional recovery of 82.7%, which is significantly higher than 28.57–36.5% of the EPS foams.…”

“…Even the use of high temperatures can have a detrimental effect on the polymeric binder, causing an excessive softening that can compromise its adhesive performance, as proven by Kaczynsky et al [57] with a 100 • C impact (Figure 6). fect of various design parameters such as specimen thickness [55], operating temperature [48,[56][57][58] and number of repeated impacts [41,43,59], also providing thorough comparisons with more traditional synthetic foams [60][61][62] and a numerical simulation of its compressive behavior [58,62,63].…”

The Influence of Cork and Manufacturing Parameters on the Properties of Cork–Rubber Composites for Vibration Isolation Applications

“…Agglomerated cork has shown a better recovery capacity and small permanent deformation after successive loading cycles [27]. Regarding multiple loading and impacts tests, agglomerated cork also proved to have better performance than EPS and EPP [10,27,28]. The addition of agglomerated cork as part of sandwich structures has also been studied, including on vibration damping applications [6,29,30].…”