Predicting energy absorption in a foam-filled thin-walled aluminum tube based on experimentally determined strengthening coefficient

Abstract

The energy absorption in a foam-filled thin-walled circular Al tube was investigated based on the experimentally determined strengthening coefficient of filling using Al and polystyrene closed-cell foams with three different densities. Foam filling was found to change the deformation mode of tube from diamond (empty tube) into concertina, regardless the foam type and density used. Although foam filling resulted in higher energy absorption than the sum of the energy absorptions of the tube alone and foam alone, it was not effective in increasing the specific energy than simply thickening the tube wall. It was shown that for efficient foam filling an appropriate foam-tube combination must be selected by taking into account the magnitude of strengthening coefficient of foam filling and the foam filler plateau load.

Partial Al foam filling of commercial 1050H14 Al crash boxes: The effect of box column thickness and foam relative density on energy absorption

“…As is shown in Fig. 17, empty box is energetically more efficient than fully and partially foam filled boxes until about a critical foam relative density, agreeing with the previous studies [16,24]. The critical foam density for efficient foam filling increases slightly as the box wall thickness increases in fully foam filled boxes.…”

Quasi-Static Axial Crushing Behavior of Aluminum Closed Cell Foam-Filled Multi-Packed Aluminum and Composite/ Aluminum Hybrid Tubes

“…This effect, the increase in SAE values of filled tubes over the empty tube at increasing displacements, is simply a result of the increase of the foam filler density at increasing deformation ratios. It was previously shown that there is a critical total tube mass and the corresponding critical foam density above which the use of foam filling becomes more efficient than empty tube [1,2]. The SAE values of empty multi-tube designs however exceed that of the single empty tube after 10 mm displacement as shown in Figures.…”

“…In empty hybrid tubes, although metal tube crushes in inhomogeneous diamond mode, it deforms in concertina mode in the foam-filled hybrid tube. The concertina folds in a foam-filled Al tube were previously shown to be uniform in shape and thickness and mostly outward of the filler [2]. While in hybrid tubes the folds are not as regular as in the case of foam-filled Al tube and tend to form through the inside of the foam.…”

“…The foam filling of metallic thin-walled tubes increases the Specific Absorbed Energy (SAE) values over the empty tube counterparts while the efficiency of foam filling is function of the tube geometry, tube wall-foam filler bonding and foam density chosen [1][2][3]. The foam filling generally results in an interaction between the tube wall and foam filler and therefore increases the average crushing load of the filled-tube over the sum of the crushing loads of foam (alone) and tube (alone).…”

Comparative Analysis of Buckling Load of Circular and Corrugated Tubes by Utilizing Key Performance Indicators

“…In recent years, tubular structures, specifically circular and square tubes under axial compression, have been explored by diversified experimental, theoretical and numerical means [1][2][3][4][5]. Not only circular and square tubes, numerous but also other cross-sectional tubes have also become the aim of research, including hexagonal tubes, octagonal tubes, 12-side star tubes, 16-side star tube s(also known as even side tubes) [6][7][8][9][10][11][12], as well as triangular tubes and pentagonal tubes (also known as odd side tubes) [13][14][15].…”