Abstract
Foams are widely used in protective applications requiring high energy absorption under impact, and evaluating impact properties of foams is vital. Therefore, a novel test method based on a shock tube was developed to investigate the impact properties of closed-cell polyethylene (PE) foams at strain rates over 6000 s−1, and the test theory is presented. Based on the test method, the failure progress and final failure modes of PE foams are discussed. Moreover, energy absorption capabilities of PE foams were assessed under both quasi-static and high strain rate loading conditions. The results showed that the foam exhibited a nonuniform deformation along the specimen length under high strain rates. The energy absorption rate of PE foam increased with the increasing of strain rates. The specimen energy absorption varied linearly in the early stage and then increased rapidly, corresponding to a uniform compression process. However, in the shock wave deformation process, the energy absorption capacity of the foam maintained a good stability and exhibited the best energy absorption state when the speed was higher than 26 m/s. This stable energy absorption state disappeared until the speed was lower than 1.3 m/s. The loading speed exhibited an obvious influence on energy density.
Highlights
Polymeric foams are widely used in protective applications due to their high energy absorption capability [1,2,3], and the properties of a variety of open-cell and closed-cell foams have been widely studied under quasi-static compression [4,5,6], impact, and high strain rate loading conditions [7,8]
When polymer foam material is used as the core of sandwich composite [12,13,14], its impact resistance and energy absorption effect are significantly improved compared with similar materials [15,16]
The curve shows a long stress plateau that corresponds to the high energy absorption under compression, the stress rises sharply when entering the densification stage
Summary
Polymeric foams are widely used in protective applications due to their high energy absorption capability [1,2,3], and the properties of a variety of open-cell and closed-cell foams have been widely studied under quasi-static compression [4,5,6], impact, and high strain rate loading conditions [7,8]. When polymer foam material is used as the core of sandwich composite [12,13,14], its impact resistance and energy absorption effect are significantly improved compared with similar materials [15,16]. In order to improve the impact resistance of aircraft, it is of great significance to study the energy absorption characteristics of polymer foam material
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