Study on the Mechanical Properties of Metal Rubber with Complex Contact Friction of Spiral Coils based on Virtual Manufacturing Technology

Abstract

Metal rubber (MR) is an elastic porous material with a complex spiral network structure, which is widely used in aerospace, aviation, navigation, medical biomaterials, and other fields. The traditional preparation processes depend on multiple tests or artificial experience, which leads to time‐consuming and laborious. Herein, a virtual manufacturing method is proposed to realize the spatial multipoint dynamic contact analysis of a complex spiral network structure, that is, to study the mechanical properties of MR from the micro‐tribological point of view. Through real‐time capturing the spatial distribution characteristics of each contact point and the number of contact pairs and contact mode, it is found that the number of dry friction contact points between the wires is nonlinear positive correlation with the damping energy dissipation characteristics of MR. The preparation parameters, such as the wire diameter, the spiral wire pitch, and the blank winding angle, are selected to be investigated, and the controlling variable method is used to analyze the single factor influence in the virtual preparation process. The results show that the damping and energy consumption characteristics of MR can be improved effectively by reducing the wire diameter, by reducing the spiral wire pitch, or by increasing the winding angle of the blank. However, too small or too large preparation parameters cause stress concentration and affect the mechanical properties of the actual materials. The quasi‐static compression test is carried out through the preparation of the products, and the error between simulation and experiment results is <8%. Herein, the mechanism of contact friction between wire turns in MR is expounded. Also, this method can effectively guide the production of MR material, reduce the time of material design, and promote the popularization and application of the material.