Effect of hollow sphere size and size distribution on the quasi-static and high strain rate compressive properties of Al-A380–Al2O3 syntactic foams

Metal matrix syntactic foams are promising materials for energy absorption; however, few studies have examined the effects of hollow sphere dimensions and foam microstructure on the quasi-static and high strain rate properties of the resulting foam. Aluminum alloy A380 syntactic foams containing Al₂O₃ hollow spheres sorted by size and size range were synthesized by a sub-atmospheric pressure infiltration technique. The resulting samples were tested in compression at strain rates ranging from 10^?3 s^?1 using a conventional load frame to 1720 s^?1 using a Split Hopkinson Pressure-bar test apparatus. It is shown that the quasi-static compressive stress–strain curves exhibit distinct deformation events corresponding to initial failure of the foam at the critical resolved shear stress and subsequent failures and densification events until the foam is deformed to full density. The peak strength, plateau strength, and toughness of the foam increases with increasing hollow sphere wall thickness to diameter (t/D) ratio. Since t/D was found to increase with decreasing hollow sphere diameter, the foams produced with smaller spheres showed improved performance. The compressive properties did not show measurable strain rate dependence.     

聚氨酯泡沫铝复合材料动态力学实验

通过在开孔泡沫铝中填充聚氨酯得到了聚氨酯泡沫铝, 利用Hopkinson杆对泡沫铝与泡沫聚氨酯组成的三维连续网络增强复合材料进行了在不同相对密度、 应变率和聚氨酯含量下的动态压缩实验。结果表明, 在相同应变率和相对密度下, 与泡沫纯铝相比, 聚氨酯泡沫铝屈服强度和压缩应变量显著增加, 而且应力-应变曲线出现明显的抖动。 随着应变的不断增大, 应力也逐渐增加, 在达到某一相同的应变时, 聚氨酯泡沫铝的应力值较高, 吸能量也较多。另外, 当应变率增加时, 聚氨酯泡沫铝表现出很明显的应变率效应。      

泡沫铝硅合金动态压缩力学性能及吸能特性研究

利用分离式霍普金森压杆研究了泡沫铝硅合金的动态压缩力学性能,得到了应变率为1400s-1~2500s-1的动态应力-应变曲线,且与准静态压缩实验结果进行了对比,分析了应变率对泡沫铝硅材料压缩强度和吸能特性的影响。动态压缩实验过程中,针对泡沫铝硅合金的低阻抗特点,采用LC4铝压杆和半导体应变片改进了测试装置和方法,保证了实验结果的可靠性。结果表明:应变率对泡沫铝硅合金的流动应力有着明显的影响,其流动应力随着应变率的增大而增大;由于惯性效应和胞孔的坍塌,在弹性极限处应力出现波动,且波动应力随应变率的增大而增大。该文还讨论了泡沫铝硅合金在不同应变率下的吸能效率。     

中低应变率下闭孔泡沫铝动态力学性能研究

为探索闭孔泡沫铝的动态力学性能与吸能特性,基于万能材料试验机和高速液压伺服材料试验机在常温下分别对闭孔泡沫铝在准静态和中应变率下(0.001~100s^-1)的动态力学性能进行了测试,分析了不同应变率、不同相对密度和不同泡沫铝基体特性下闭孔泡沫铝的应力应变曲线特征和吸能特性变化。研究结果表明:中低应变率下的纯铝基体泡沫铝并不具备应变率效应,高脆性、相对密度较小的泡沫铝具备更好的吸能特性,塑性和脆性基体泡沫铝变形带分别呈现“V”形和“X”形,脆性基体泡沫铝同样不具备应变率效应。     

The effects of strain rate,density, and temperature on the mechanical properties of polymethylene diisocyanate (PMDI)-based rigid polyurethane foams during compression

Compressive experiments on three types of rigid polyurethane foams were conducted by employing modified split Hopkinson pressure bars (SHPBs). The foam materials, which were based on polymethylene diisocyanate (PMDI), varied only in density (0.31 × 10³, 0.41 × 10³, and 0.55 × 10³ kg/m³) and were compressed at strain rates as high as 3 × 10³ s⁻¹. Dynamic experiments were also performed on these three foam materials at temperatures ranging from 219 to 347 K, while maintaining a fixed high strain rate of ~3 × 10³ s⁻¹. In addition, an MTS materials testing frame was used to characterize the low-strain-rate compressive response of these three foam materials at room temperature (295 K). Our study determined the effects of density, strain rate, and temperature on the compressive response of the foam materials, resulting in a compressive stress–strain curve for each material.     

Aluminum Melt Foam Processing for Light-Weight Structures

Aluminum foam was prepared by two routes, namely, gas injection technique and by the decomposition of TiH₂ blowing agent. The foam structure can be largely controlled by the amount of degassing agent and duration of foaming. The heterogeneity in cell structure could be explained on the basis of foam stability, drainage in the cell walls, and heat transfer during quenching. The variation in cell size and drainage is negligible when the holding time is around 120 s at 750°C. The constant strain rate compression tests indicate that the Young's modulus, plateau stress, and energy absorption capacity increases with relative density of the foam, while the densification strain reduces with increase in relative density.     

Density and Mechanical Properties of Aluminum Lost Foam Casting by Pressurization during Solidification

Porosity is thought to be severe in aluminum alloy castings produced by lost foam process due to the pyrolysis of the polystyrene foam pattern during pouring, which results in detrimental effect in mechanical property. The slow solidification rate promotes the formation of gassing pin holes, and relative weakness of the thermal gradients can cause micro-shrinkage if the outline of the part complicates feeding in the lost foam casting. One of the methods to eliminate the porosity is to apply high pressure to the molten metal like an isostatic forging during solidification. Fundamental experiments were carried out to evaluate the effect of the external pressure on the porosity and mechanical properties of A356.2 alloy bar in the lost foam casting. Solidification time and porosity decreased with increasing the applied pressure during solidification. Applying external pressure was effective in decreasing the porosity and increasing the elongation of the lost foam casting.     

Dynamic splitting tensile properties of concrete and cement mortar

To investigate the dynamic tensile behaviours of concrete and cement mortar, a 50‐mm split Hopkinson pressure bar was applied on Brazilian disc specimens for dynamic tensile experiments, in which strain rate varied from 10^?5 to 20 s^?1. The high‐speed camera testing technique was used to capture the dynamic fractured process of the specimens at relative high strain rate. The experimental results revealed that the dynamic tensile strength of concrete specimens has a stronger strain rate effect than that of cement mortar specimens. Then three typical failure patterns of the specimens were confirmed in dynamic experiments. In addition, one‐parameter semi‐empirical relation between dynamic tensile strength and strain rate was established. Finally, the limitation of dynamic splitting experiments on Brazilian disc specimens was discussed in detail at high strain rate, in which the crack initiates from the contact point between the incident bar and specimens rather than the centre of the specimens.     

Polymeric foam behavior under dynamic compressive loading

Polymeric foams are commonly used in many impact-absorbing applications and thermal-acoustic insulated devices. To improve their mechanical performances, these structures have to be modeled. Constitutive equations (for their macroscopic behavior) have to be identified and then determined by appropriate tests.Tests were carried out on polypropylene foams under high strain rate compression. In this work, the material behaviour has been determined as a function of two parameters, density and strain rate. Foams (at several densities) were tested on a uniaxial compression for initial strain rates equal to 0.34 s⁻¹ and on a new device installed on a flywheel for higher strain rates. This apparatus was designed in order to do stopped dynamic compression tests on foam. With this testing equipment, the dynamic compressive behaviour of the polymeric foam has been identified in the strain rate range [6.7.10⁻⁴s⁻¹, 100s⁻¹].Furthermore, the sample compression was filmed with a high speed camera monitored by the fly wheel software. To complete this work, picture-analysis techniques were used to obtain displacement and strain fields of the sample during its compression. Comparisons between these results and stress-strain responses of polypropylene foam allow a better understanding of its behaviour. The multiscale damage mechanism, by buckling of the foam structure, was emphasised from the image analysis.     

闭孔EVA泡沫类静态缓冲性能的研究

目的 研究密度与应变率对闭孔EVA泡沫材料类静态缓冲性能的影响规律。方法 基于包装用缓冲材料静态压缩试验法和能量吸收图法,对密度为80、95、106、124和180kg/m³的闭孔EVA泡沫试样在不同应变率下进行类静态压缩试验,得到应力-应变曲线,基于此进一步处理得到相应的单位体积能量吸收、能量吸收效率、缓冲系数和最大比吸能等曲线,同时绘制试样类静态压缩过程中的能量吸收图。结果 闭孔EVA泡沫材料的密度越高,密实化应变越小,最大单位体积能量吸收越大;在压缩应变相同时,应变率越大,应力、单位体积能量吸收、能量吸收效率、最大比吸能越大;得到了5种密度闭孔EVA泡沫材料的本构方程和闭孔EVA泡沫材料的能量吸收图及其斜率与应变率的关系式;通过分析密实化应变与相对密度的关系,得到相关拟合公式。结论 密度与应变率对闭孔EVA泡沫材料的缓冲性能有着非常大的影响,在一定的应力水平下会有一个最佳的密度使得刚好能吸收完能量,并保护产品不破损,该最佳密度受应变率的影响,因此可以通过能量吸收图进行相关的缓冲包装优化设计。     

Analytical and experimental studies on mechanical behavior of composites under high strain rate compressive loading

An analytical method is presented for the prediction of compressive strength at high strain rate loading for composites. The method is based on variable rate power law. Using this analytical method, high strain rate compressive stress–strain behavior is presented up to strain rate of 5000 s⁻¹ starting with the experimentally determined compressive strength values at relatively lower strain rates. Experimental results were generated in the strain rate range of 472–1957 s⁻¹ for a typical woven fabric E-glass/epoxy laminated composite along all the three principal directions. The laminated composite was made using resin film infusion technique. The experimental studies were carried out using compressive split Hopkinson pressure bar apparatus. It was generally observed that the compressive strength is enhanced at high strain rate loading compared with that at quasi-static loading. Also, compressive strength increased with increasing strain rate in the range of parameters considered. Analytically predicted results are compared with the experimental results up to strain rate of 1957 s⁻¹.     

Quasistatic and dynamic crushability of polymeric foams in rigid confinement

An approach was developed for investigating the crushability behavior of epoxy-based, low-density structural polymeric foam (initial bulk density 0.81 g/cm³ was used for test illustration) under quasistatic and high strain rate conditions in rigid confinement. Quasistatic crushability tests were conducted in a steel confinement cell using an MTS material testing system and the high strain rate (dynamic) crushability behavior was investigated by placing a foam specimen in a steel confinement tube and then loading the specimen using two different split Hopkinson pressure bar systems, namely, a magnesium bar and steel bar. The dynamic deformation characteristics were obtained using a multi-step incremental loading procedure. It was found that these foams exhibited large uniform inelastic deformation during the confined loading. It is verified that multi-step incremental loading can be used to construct the complete stress–strain response curve for the specimens under both quasistatic and dynamic loading conditions. A phenomenological constitutive model was then applied to parametrically describe the crushability response and to determine the rate sensitivity of the foams. The rate sensitivity of yield stress was found to be around three under rigid confinement.     

An investigation on the dynamic response of polymeric,metallic, and biomaterial foams

Mechanical characterization of foams at varying strain rates is indispensable for the selection of foam as core material for the proficient sandwich structure design at dynamic loading application. Both servo-hydraulically controlled Material Testing System (MTS) and Instron machines are generally considered for quasi-static testing at strain rates on the order of 10⁻³ s⁻¹. Split Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB) with steel bars is typically utilized for characterizing metallic foams at high strain rates, however modified SHPB with polycarbonate or soft martial bars are used for characterizing polymeric and biomaterial foams at high strain rates on the order of 10³ s⁻¹ for impedance match between the foam specimens and bars. This paper reviews the effect of strain rate of loading, density, environmental temperature, and microstructure on compressive strength and energy absorption capacity of various closed-cell polymeric, metallic, and biomaterial foams. Compressive strength and energy absorption capacity increase with the increase in both strain rate of loading and density of foams, but decrease with the increase in surrounding temperature. Foams of same density can have different strength and can absorb unequal amount of energy at the same strain rate of loading due to the variation of microstructure.     

FE modeling of the compressive behavior of porous copper-matrix nanocomposites

Compressive mechanical test and numerical simulation via finite element modeling have been employed on closed-cell copper-matrix nanocomposite foams reinforced by alumina particles. The FE analysis' purpose was to model the foam deformation behavior under compressive loading and to investigate the correlation between material characteristics and the compressive mechanical behavior. Exploring this, several foam samples with different conditions were manufactured and compression test was carried out on the samples. Scanning electron microscopy and image analysis have been performed on the foam samples to obtain the required data for the numerical simulation. The stress–strain curves exhibited plateau stress between 18 and 112.5 MPa and energy absorption in the range of 20.03–51.20 MJ/m³ for the foams with different relative densities. The foams exhibited enhanced mechanical properties to an optimum value, as a consequence of increasing the reinforcing nanoparticles, through both experimental tests and numerical simulation data. Also, the validated model of copper-matrix nanocomposite foams has been used to probe stress distribution in the foams. In addition, the results obtained by numerical simulation via ABAQUS CAE finite element modeling provided support for experimental test results. This confirmed that FEM is a favorable technique for predicting mechanical properties of nanocomposite copper foams.     

Comparisons of deformation and fracture behaviour of PC/ABS blend and ABS copolymer under dynamic shear loading

Abstract

The dynamic shear deformation and fracture characteristics of PC/ABS blend and ABS copolymer with regard to the relation between mechanical properties and strain rate, are studied experimentally using a torsional split Hopkinson bar at room temperature under strain rates ranging from 8 × 10² s^-1 to 3.4 × 10³ s^-1. Fracture phenomena are analysed by scanning electron microscopy and correlated with macroscopic behaviour. The relative properties and fracture mechanism of both polymers are also compared. Results show that strain rate enhances shear strength of both PC/ABS blend and ABS, but fracture shear strain tends to decrease with increasing strain rate. ABS exhibits better ductility and lower shear strength. For both polymers, strain rate sensitivity increases with increasing range of strain rate, while an inverse tendency occurs for activation volume. Higher strain rate sensitivity and lower activation volume are found in PC/ABS blend. PC/ABS blend fracture is dominated by mixed shearing and tearing, but ABS fracture shows only shearing. Due to the increasing deformation heat, fracture surface viscoplastic flow for both polymers increases with increasing strain rate, inducing lower flow resistance and lower fracture strain at higher stain rates. The viscoplastic flow behaviour in ABS is more active.     

Characterization of close-celled cellular aluminum alloys

The deformation behaviour of two different types of aluminium alloy foam are studied under tension, compression, shear and hydrostatic pressure. Foams having closed cells are processed via batch casting, whereas foams with semi-open cells are processed by negative pressure infiltration. The influence of relative foam density, cell structure and cell orientation on the stiffness and strength of foams is studied; the deformation mechanisms are analysed by using video imaging and SEM (scanning electronic microscope). The measured dependence of stiffness and strength upon relative foam density are compared with analytical predictions. The measured stress versus strain curves along different loading paths are compared with predictions from a phenomenological constitutive model. It is found that the deformations of both types of foams are dominated by cell wall bending, attributed to various process induced imperfections in the cellualr structure. The closed cell foam is found to be isotropic, whereas the semi-open cell foam shows strong anisotropy.     

Compressive behaviour of closed-cell aluminium foams at high strain rates

It has been well established that ALPORAS® foams is a strain rate sensitive material. However, the strain rate effect is not well quantified as it is not unusual for strain rate to vary during high speed compression. Moreover, according to previous research, aluminium foams, especially ALPORAS® foams, behave differently at low and high strain rates. Therefore, different plastic deformation mechanisms are expected for low and high strain rate loadings as a result of micro-inertia of cell walls. In this paper, the strain rate effect on the energy dissipation capacity of ALPORAS® foam was investigated experimentally by using a High Rate Instron Test System, with cross-head speed up to 10 m/s. The compressive tests were conducted over strain rates in the range of 1 × 10^?3 to 2.2 × 10² s^?1, with each test being at a fairly constant strain rate. An energy efficiency method was adopted to obtain the densification strain and plateau stress. The effect of strain rate and the foam density was well presented by empirical constitutive models. The experimental data were also discussed with reference to the recent results by other researchers but with different range of strain rates. An attempt has been made to qualitatively explain the observed decrease of densification strain with strain rate.     

Mesophase AR pitch derived carbon foam: Effect of temperature, pressure and pressure release time

For the carbon foam production, mesophase pitch pellets are heated up in a reactor in an aluminum mold to specified pressures and finally pressure released to obtain green carbon foam samples. The green foams were then stabilized and carbonized. The effects of various temperatures, pressures and pressure release times on production of carbons foams are investigated. The samples are subjected to SEM, mechanical testing, mercury porosimetry analysis and bulk density determination for characterization. For the processing temperatures of 553, 556, 566 and 573 K, the densities of the foams produced were 380, 390, 410 and 560 kg/m³ respectively. The compressive strengths of the respective samples were increased from 1.47, to 3.31 MPa for the lowest and highest temperatures. The processing pressures were 3.8, 5.8, 6.8 and 7.8 MPa. The bulk density and the compressive strength of the carbon foams produced were changed from 500 to 580 kg/m³, and 1.87 to 3.52 MPa for the lowest and highest pressures respectively. Pressure release times of 5 s, 80 s, 160 s and 600 s are used to produce different carbon foam samples. The densities and the comprehensive strengths measured for the highest and lowest pressure release times changed from 560 to 240 kg/m³ and 3.31 to 2.16 MPa respectively. The pore size distribution of all of the products changed between 0.052×10^-6m and 120×10^-6m. Increase in temperature and pressure increased the bulk density and compressive strength of the carbon foams. The mercury porosimetry results show % porosity increase with increasing temperature and pressure. On the other hand, increase in pressure release time decreased the bulk density, compressive strength of the carbon foam.     

Dynamic crushing behavior of 3D closed-cell foams based on Voronoi random model

Dynamic crushing responses of three-dimensional cellular foams are investigated using the Voronoi tessellation technique and the finite element (FE) method. FE models are constructed for such closed-cell foam structures based on Voronoi diagrams. The plateau stress and the densification strain energy are determined using the FE models. The effects of the cell shape irregularity, impact loading, relative density and strain hardening on the deformation mode and the plateau stress are studied. The results indicate that both the plateau stress and the densification strain energy can be improved by increasing the degree of cell shape irregularity. It is also found that the plastic deformation bands appear firstly in the middle of the model based on tetrakaidecahedron at low impact velocities. However, the crushing bands are seen to be randomly distributed in the model based on Voronoi tessellation. At high impact velocities, the “I” shaped deformation mode is clearly observed in all foam structures. Finally, the capacity of foams absorbing energy can be improved by increasing appropriately the degree of cell shape irregularity.