Abstract
Abstract Metal foams have been widely used in the engineering fields due to its excellent energy absorption capacity under impact. Under different impact velocities, metal foam exhibits different energy absorption properties. It is important to investigate the mechanism and behavior of energy absorption of metal foam under impact. In this study, a 3D microscopic finite element model (FEM) of metal foam is first established to study energy absorption properties of metal foam. It is shown that the impact energy transfers into kinetic and internal energy of metal foam which varies under impact. The variation can be explained by plastic shock wave, which is produced and then propagates under impact. The theoretical model is proposed to discuss and predict kinetic energy and the difference between dynamic and quasi-static energy absorption behavior of metal foam. Effects of inertia and base material strain rate on plastic shock wave are investigated, and the mechanism of the two effects on dynamic energy absorption properties are studied. The results indicate that base material strain rate effect resists the formation of plastic shock wave, and leads to smaller kinetic energy, but higher internal energy.
Highlights
Metal foams have been being widely used in various engineering fields, such as impact energy absorbers and blast protectors (Gibson and Ashby, 1988; Lu and Yu, 2003) due to their excellent energy absorption property
Studying the plastic shock wave is the key solution to reveal the mechanisms of dynamic energy absorption behavior of metal foam
It is true that most of the impact energy transfers into internal energy of metal foam, but the kinetic energy cannot be ignored under high velocity impact
Summary
Metal foams have been being widely used in various engineering fields, such as impact energy absorbers and blast protectors (Gibson and Ashby, 1988; Lu and Yu, 2003) due to their excellent energy absorption property. Geng Luo et al Investigations on the mechanism and behavior of dynamic energy absorption of metal foam found that as the impact velocity increases, the kinetic and internal energy increases significantly due to inertia effect. According to this literature, it is noted that the energy absorption properties of metal foam under quasi-static and dynamic loadings are dramatically different. Studying the plastic shock wave is the key solution to reveal the mechanisms of dynamic energy absorption behavior of metal foam. Little theoretical models are proposed to decouple the inertia and the base material strain rate effect on dynamic properties of metal foam. The effects of inertia and base material strain rate on energy absorption properties are discussed
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