Abstract
The demand for lightweight, strong structural profiles is currently high in the transport industry, mechanical engineering, and construction. Therefore, it is important to evaluate their properties, especially mechanical properties. The main objective of this paper is to determine energy absorption coefficients and evaluate the crush resistance of thin-walled aluminum profiles using numerical simulation and empirical verification. This paper presents the compression results of testing of thin-walled aluminum profiles filled with a porous material (cast aluminum foam). The numerical analysis was conducted using the software Abaqus/CAE. Aluminum material data were obtained from a static tensile test performed on a Shimadzu machine. The experiment was performed on an Instron CEAST 9450HES dynamic hammer. Profiles with three shapes of crush initiators filled with aluminum foam measuring 40 mm–200 mm in 20 mm increments were numerically tested. A sample with a concave initiator filled with foams of 40 mm, 60 mm, 80 mm, and 120 mm in length was used to verify the numerical analyses. Energy absorption coefficients were determined from the analyses. The results of both analyses were tabulated to show the percentage differences. The study showed an increase in the Crush Load Efficiency (CLE) index by up to 33% for samples with the same crush initiator. In addition, it was noted that the use of porous fill does not increase the value of initiating Peak Crushing Force (PCF), which indicates the generation of much smaller overloads dangerous for vehicle passengers.
Highlights
In the automotive industry, user safety remains an important factor in vehicle design.As early as the beginning of the 20th century, the first solutions were used to protect the main components of the vehicle as well as the occupants in the vehicle
In the figures for each model (Figures 16–18), a specific type of trigger is presented, and the sample without foam filling is marked with the letter E (Empty)
Observing the Crush Load Efficiency (CLE) coefficient, the influence of foam filling on its increase is noticeable
Summary
User safety remains an important factor in vehicle design.As early as the beginning of the 20th century, the first solutions were used to protect the main components of the vehicle as well as the occupants in the vehicle. User safety remains an important factor in vehicle design. In the 1960s, the first regulations defining safety considerations in vehicles appeared [1]. The protective element was a bumper made of a flat steel bar attached to the front supporting parts of the vehicle. The design of this area of the vehicle began to change, plastic bumpers and foam inserts appeared, which had energy-absorbing properties [2]. In the 1990s, additional energy-absorbing elements called crash-boxes appeared in the design of the crumple zone in the form of thin-walled metal structures mounted on the stringers. The purpose of crash-boxes is to absorb a large portion of the energy and protect the stringers, which are extremely expensive to repair, during collision speeds of up to 15–20 km/h
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