Characterization of open-cell cellular material structures with pore fillers

Abstract

Due to their mechanical properties, cellular material structures are often used in automotive, aerospace, ship and railway industries, as elements for deformational energy absorption. New advanced cellular material structures have been evaluated and characterised in the scope of this study in order to determine their energy absorption capability through the deformation process. Parametric computational simulations in the framework of the finite element method have been used for this purpose. Newly developed computational models of regular open-cell cellular material structures considering viscous pore fillers have been developed and their response under impact conditions was analysed using the explicit code LS-DYNA. The results of the performed study show that introduction of viscous fillers indeed increases the energy absorption capability of open-cellular material structures. Additionally, it was determined that the size of the cellular material (number of cells) dramatically influences the cellular structure response and that the filler influence is stronger in cellular structures with higher relative density.