The energy-absorbing capacity and friction phenomena of different closed-cell aluminium foam-filled Al tube types are investigated through experimental compression tests. Concerning the kind of investigation, free, radial-constrained and friction tests occurred. The radial-constrained compression test results confirm that the process requires significantly more compression energy than without the constrain. Pushing away different pre-compressed foams inside the aluminium tube, the static and kinematic frictional resistances can be determined and the energy required to move them can be calculated. Knowing the value of the energy required for the frictional resistance, we can obtain how much of the energy surplus in radially inhibited compression is caused by the friction phenomena. The main goal present study is to reveal the magnitude of friction between the foam and the wall of the tube during the radially constrained test. The investigation used 0.4 and 0.7 g/cm3 density closed-cell aluminium foam whilst a compressive test was applied where the force-displacement data were recorded to calculate the absorbed energy due to friction. Considering the results of the test, it can be stated that 18% of the invested energy was used to overcome friction in the case of lighter foam and almost 23% with 0.7 g/cm3 foam during the radial-constrained test.

In the present research work is demonstrated a cross-scale manufacturing approach for the production of multifunctional glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) composite tubes with a purposely redesigned filament winding process. Up until now, limited studies have been reported towards the multiscale reinforcement direction of continuous fibers for the manufacturing of hierarchical composites at the industrial level. This study involved the development of two different multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) aqueous-based inks, which were employed for the modification of commercial glass fiber (GF) reinforcing tows via a bath coating unit in a pilot production line. The obtained multifunctional GFRP tubes presented a variety of characteristics in relation to their final mechanical, hydrothermal aging, electrical, thermal and thermoelectric properties. Results revealed that the two individual systems exhibited pronounced differences both in crushing behavior and durability performance. Interestingly, for lateral compression the MWCNT coatings comprising a polymeric dispersant minorly affected the mechanical response of the produced tubes. The crashworthiness indicators of the multifunctional tubes displayed a slight 5% variation to the respective reference values, combined with a more ductile behavior. Moreover, regarding the bulk electrical and thermal conductivity values, as well as the Seebeck coefficient factor, the corresponding tubes displayed a variance of 233% and 19% and an opposite semi-conducting sign denoting a p- and n-type character, respectively.

In the pursuit of global energy conservation and emissions reductions, utilizing beverage cans as energy-absorbing components offers potential for a sustainable economy. This study examines the impact of foam filling on the crushing behaviors and energy absorption of various types of beverage cans. Quasi-static compression tests were conducted on five geometrically sized cans filled with three densities of polyurethane foam to study their deformation modes and calculate crashworthiness parameters within the effective stroke. Results show that empty beverage cans have lower energy absorption capacities, and deformation modes become less consistent as can size increases. Higher foam density leads to increased total energy absorption, a slight reduction in the effective compression stroke, and a tendency for specific energy absorption to initially increase and then decrease. Regarding crush behavior, smaller cans transition from a diamond mode to a concertina mode, while larger cans exhibit a columnar bending mode. Next, the coupling effect of energy absorption between foam and cans was analyzed so as to reveal the design method of energy-absorbing components. The specific energy absorption of smaller cans filled with polyurethane foam is superior to that of similar empty cans. These findings provide valuable insights for selecting next-generation sustainable energy absorption structures.

Creating lightweight and impact-resistant box structures has been an enduring pursuit among researchers. A new energy-absorbing structure consisting of a bionic gradient lattice-enhanced thin-walled tube is presented in this article. The gradient lattice and thin-walled tube were prepared using selective laser melting (SLM) and wire-cutting techniques, respectively. To analyze the effects of gradient pattern, mass ratio, diameter range and impact speed on structural crashworthiness, low-speed impact at 4 m/s and finite element simulation experiments were conducted. The study demonstrates that the design of inward radial gradient lattice-reinforced thin-walled tubes can effectively enhance structure\'s energy-absorption efficiency and provide a more stable mode of deformation. It also shows a 17.44% specific energy-absorption advantage over the uniformly lattice-reinforced thin-walled tubes, with no significant overall gain in peak crushing force. A complex scale evaluation method was used to determine the optimum structure and the structure type with the best crashworthiness was found to be a gradient lattice-filled tube with a thickness of 0.9 mm and a slope index of 10. The gradient lattice-reinforced thin-walled tube suggested in this investigation offers guidance for designing a more efficient thin-walled energy-absorption structure.

A lattice-filled multicellular square tube features a regular cross-sectional shape, good energy consumption, and good crashworthiness, which is suitable for the design of energy absorbers in various protection fields such as automobiles, aerospace, bridges, etc. Based on the super folding theory, two reference planes are set to refine the energy consumption zone of the super folding element in this study. The energy consumption calculation of convex panel stretching is involved, and the critical crushing force formula is introduced in this study. Meanwhile, the calculation method from a single-cell square tube to a multicellular thin-walled square tube is extended and the structural optimization is investigated, in which the NSGAII algorithm is used to obtain the Pareto front (PF) of the crashworthiness performance index of the square multicellular tubes, the Normal Boundary Intersection (NBI) method is adopted to select knee points, and the influence of different cross-sectional widths on the number, as well as the thickness, of cells are discussed. This study\'s results indicate that the theoretical value is consistent with that obtained from the numerical simulation, meaning that the improved theoretical model can be applied to predict the crashworthiness of multicellular square cross-sectional tubes. Also, the optimization method and study results proposed in this study can provide a reference for the design of square lattice multicellular tubes.

Auxetic materials have recently attracted interest in the field of crashworthiness thanks to their peculiar negative Poisson ratio, leading to densification under compression and potentially being the basis of superior behavior upon impact with respect to conventional cellular cores or standard solutions. However, the empirical demonstration of the applicability of auxeticity under impact is limited for most known geometries. As such, the present work strives to advance the investigation of the impact behavior of auxetic meta-materials: first by selecting and testing representative specimens, then by proceeding with an experimental and numerical study of repeated impact behavior and penetration resistance, and finally by proposing a new design of a metallic auxetic absorber optimized for additive manufacturing and targeted at high-performance crash applications.

Lightweight composite tubes have been widely used in vehicle safety systems as energy absorbers. To improve the crashworthiness of tubes, composite skeletons with a variety of cross-sectional profiles were ingeniously designed as internal reinforcements. Herein, a novel composite skeleton comprising cross-ribs and an inner circle (OS-skeleton) was proposed and integrally fabricated through the special assembling molds. The novel OS-skeleton presented a steady progressive failure mode under dynamic impact loads, leading to remarkable material utilization and energy absorption characteristics. Subsequently, finite element analysis (FEA) models were developed. The predicted response curves and deformation modes were consistent with the experimental results. Finally, a multi-objective optimization utilizing the back propagation neural network (BPNN) was then conducted to further enhance the mean crushing force (MCF) and specific energy absorption (SEA) by adjusting several structural parameters. The results showed that MCF and SEA increased with the increasing thickness of the skeletons and the number of circumferential ribs. By comparison, the diameter of inner tube and the number of circumferential ribs showed a non-linear relationship with the energy absorption characteristics due to their combined effects. In sum, the proposed composite tubes filled with OS-skeletons could maximize certain aspects of crashworthiness performance through proper structural design, demonstrating great potential for lightweight energy absorbers.

Energy-absorbing materials have extensive applications in aerospace and automotive applications. Research has shown buckling initiators, or triggers, in energy-absorbing tubular structures increase the energy absorbed by encouraging the side panels to fold when loaded out of plane in compression conditions. Additively manufactured TPE honeycombs were designed in this study to include these buckling initiators, which introduced a slight decrease in initial weight, as well as initial stress concentrations, while improving crashworthiness characteristics. The samples with buckling initiators (1BI) showed an increase in crush efficiency when directly compared to their no buckling initiator (0BI) counterparts. The 1BI samples maintained an increased crush efficiency regardless of the strain rate used. The samples with 1BI were able to better equilibrate the peak stress with the plateau stress. These honeycomb samples were found to maintain their crush efficiency, even after multiple rounds of compression testing. The quasi-static 0BI samples experienced a 23.4% decrease in the peak stress after multiple rounds of compression testing, while the 1BI samples saw approximately a 23.0% decrease. The 1BI samples averaged a decrease in crush efficiency of 0.5%, while the 0BI samples saw a decrease in crush efficiency of 5%. As the strain rate increased, the crush efficiency for the 1BI samples showed an increase in performance, with a smaller degradation in crush efficiency over multiple uses. Visco-elastic honeycomb with buckling initiators has a higher energy absorption than samples with no buckling initiators when exposed to multiple impact cycles.

Thin-walled structures dynamically loaded with an axial force are the subject of this study. The structures work as passive energy absorbers by progressive harmonic crushing. The absorbers were made of AA-6063-T6 aluminum alloy and subjected to both numerical and experimental tests. Experimental tests were performed on an INSTRON 9350 HES bench, while numerical analyses were performed using Abaqus software. The energy absorbers tested had crush initiators in the form of drilled holes. The variable parameters were the number of holes and their diameter. The holes were located in a line 30 mm away from the base. This study shows a significant effect of the hole diameter on the values of the stroke efficiency indicator and mean crushing force.

This study examines a hierarchical vertex-based structure that improves the crashworthiness of the conventional multi-cell square, a biological hierarchy of natural origin with exceptional mechanical properties. The vertex-based hierarchical square structure (VHS) is explored for its geometric properties, including infinite repetition and self-similarity. The cut-and-patch method is used to derive an equation for the material thicknesses of different orders of the VHS based on the principle of the same weight. A thorough parametric study of VHS was conducted using LS-DYNA, which examined the effects of material thickness, orders, and various structural ratios. The results were evaluated based on common crashworthiness criteria and demonstrated that the total energy absorption (TEA), specific energy absorption (SEA), and mean crushing force (Pm) of VHS exhibited similar monotonicity concerning the orders. SEA of the first-order VHS with λ1=0.3 and the second-order VHS with λ1=0.3 and λ2=0.1 are improved by at most 59.9% and 102.4% respectively; the second-order VHS with 0.2≤λ1≤0.4 and 0.1≤λ2≤0.15 have the better overall performance of crashworthiness. Then, the half-wavelength equation of VHS and Pm of each fold was established based on the Super-Folding Element method. Meanwhile, a comparative analysis with the simulation results reveals three different out-of-plane deformation mechanisms of VHS. The study indicated that material thickness had a greater impact on crashworthiness. Finally, the comparison with conventional honeycombs demonstrated that VHS holds great promise as a structure for crashworthiness. These results provide a solid foundation for further research and development of new bionic energy-absorbing devices.