Energy Absorption of Hybrid Structures in Bending 2012-01-0783

Hybrid structures were made using an epoxy based polymer foam, Terocore^®, and aluminium tubes of different alloy grades and wall thicknesses. Three-point bending, under quasi-static and dynamic loadings, was carried out on empty and hybrid tubes. It was found that the peak force and total energy absorption of the tubes increased by 20% to 40% with foam-filling, but there was no significant difference in specific energy absorption between the empty tubes and the foam-filled tubes. In addition, finite element analysis was performed using the commercial software package LS-DYNA^®. Finite element simulations showed good agreement with experimental data. The finite element model will be used in a future parametric study and energy dissipation analysis.