Mechanical response and energy absorption of bridge block with negative Poisson's ratio

Abstract

A new negative Poisson's ratio (NPR) block is proposed as girder falling restrainer for bridge structures, which is anticipated to have high energy absorption, high bearing capacity and intensified stiffness inherited the advantages of negative Poisson's ratio structure. The monotone loading test and the FE simulation are employed to investigate the deflection, the load-displacement response, the energy absorption of the block. The sensitivity of the block to the critical geometric parameters is revealed. The FE simulation is also employed to investigate the response of honeycomb NPR blocks. The monotone loading experiment shows that the proposed monomer NPR block has a three-step deformation process and consequently three plateau stages. The stiffness and the plateau load are small in the initial stage but can be significantly increased without significant oscillations in the following stages. The transitional displacements of the block are affected mainly by the folded angle and the length of the steel plates in the NPR monomer while the plateau loads are affected mainly by the thickness and the length of the plates. The total energy absorption of the NPR monomer in the block is more sensitive to the plateau load. The layer of the honeycomb affects mainly the transitional displacement of honeycomb NPR blocks. Cell number in each layer affects both the plateau loads and the transitional displacements.