An Experimental and Numerical Analysis of Empty and Foam-Filled Aluminium Conical Tubes under Oblique Impact Loading

Abstract:

This paper presents the crushing behaviour of empty and foam-filled conical aluminium alloy (AA6061-T6) tubes under oblique impact loading using a validated nonlinear finite element (FE) code, LS-DYNA. The study aims to assess the beneficial of foam filling on the energy absorption in terms of mass reduction, for variations in filler density and geometrical parameters of AA6061-T6 tubes. The results obtained successfully identified the critical tube mass and critical foam density. It is evident that foam filling successfully induced high Specific Energy Absorption (SEA) value of foam-filled tubes thus proving that the assessment of critical total tube mass and critical foam density point is vital in identifying proper combination of tube-filler to the effectiveness of foam-filled tubes. The combination of AA6061-T6 tube and aluminium foam demonstrates pronounced SEA increase as high as 72.3% compared to the empty tube.

• Periodical: Applied Mechanics and Materials (Volume 663)
• Pages: 73-77
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMM.663.73
• Online since: October 2014
• Authors: Mat Fauziah, Ismail Khairul Azwan, Sazali Yaacob
• Keywords: Conical Tube, Energy Absorption, Finite Element, Oblique Impact

References

[1] G.M. Nagel, D.P. Thanmbiratnam, Dynamic simulation and energy absorption of tapered thin-walled tubes under oblique impact loading, Int. J. Impact Eng. 32 (2006) 1595-1620.

DOI: 10.1016/j.ijimpeng.2005.01.002

[2] A. Reyes, O.S. Hopperstad, M. Langseth, Aluminum foam - filled extrusions subjected to oblique loading: experimental and numarical study, Int. J. Solids Struct. 41 (2004) 1645-1675.

DOI: 10.1016/j.ijsolstr.2003.09.053

[3] Z. Li, J. Yu, L. Guo, Deformation and energy absorption of aluminum foam - filled tubes subjected to oblique loading, Int. J. Mech. Sci. 54 (2012) 48-56.

DOI: 10.1016/j.ijmecsci.2011.09.006

[4] Z. Ahmad, D.P. Thambiratnam, A.C.C. Tan, Dynamic energy absorption characteristics of foam - filled conical tubes under oblique impact loading, Int. J. Impact Eng. 37 (2010) 475-488.

DOI: 10.1016/j.ijimpeng.2009.11.010

[5] T. Borvik, O.S. Hopperstad, A. Reyes, M. Langseth, G. Solomos, T. Dyngeland, Empty and foam - filled circular aluminium tubes subjected to axial and oblique quasi - static loading, Int. J. Crashworthiness. 5, 8 (2003) 481-494.

DOI: 10.1533/ijcr.2003.0254

[6] M. Güden, H. Kavi, Quasi - Static axial compression behavior of constraint hexagonal and square - packed empty and aluminum foam - filled aluminum multi - tubes, Thin-Walled Structure. 44 (2006) 739-750.

DOI: 10.1016/j.tws.2006.07.003

[7] J. Hallquist, LS-DYNA Theoretical Manual, Livermore Software Technology Coorporation, (2006).

[8] Z. Ahmad, D.P. Thambiratnam, Dynamic computer simulation and energy absorption of foam - filled conical tubes under axial impact loading, Computer Structure. 87 (2009) 186-197.

DOI: 10.1016/j.compstruc.2008.10.003

[9] J. Bi, H. Wang, X. Ren, Modeling and optimization of foam - filled thin-walled columns for crashworthiness designs, Finite Elem. Anal. Des. 46 (2010) 698-709.

DOI: 10.1016/j.finel.2010.03.008