Numerical simulation of a collapsible non-linear structure subjected to impacts

Abstract

A numerical model for the simulation of dynamic compression of a collapsible multilayer structure subjected to transient compressive excitation is described and tested in this study. It is shown that impacts induce a chaotic collapse of crumple layers. The simulations predict shock pulses and intralaminar forces. Simulated shock pulses that a free-falling impactor is subjected to, and the corresponding animated deformation histories of the layers, are compared with the high-speed videography. Cushioning performance maps and shock response spectra maps obtained from the simulations are presented. The use of collapsible structures for cushioning applications is discussed.

Keywords:

• Collapsible multilayer structure
• Impacts
• non-linear dynamics
• numerical simulation
• cushioning
• multi-degree of freedom system

Additional information

Notes on contributors

M A Sek

Dr Michael Sek is an Associate Professor in the School of Architectural, Civil and Mechanical Engineering (ACME), Victoria University, in Melbourne. He obtained his engineering qualifications in mechanical engineering in 1975, and PhD at Poznan Technical University in 1983, while working in the field of internal combustion engines. Since 1986 he has held various positions at Victoria University, including Director of the Research Centre of Packaging, Transportation and Storage; Head of Department of Mechanical Engineering; and Head of School of the Built Environment, currently known as ACME. Michael spent considerable time as a visiting researcher at the Istituto Motori in Naples, Italy; Rochester Institute of Technology, New York; DSTO Aeronautical and Maritime Research Laboratory, Melbourne; and the Institute of Sound and Vibration Research, Southampton, UK.

Since the 1990s his research interests have been in the field of environmental shock and vibration, simulation of transportation environment, and protective packaging. At the fundamental level his research relates to the analysis of non-stationary signals and the dynamics on non-linear systems.

Michael has published over 80 journal and conference papers, and a Paperboard Cushioning Design Handbook, as a result of an ARC funded collaborative project with Amcor. He has been invited speaker at conferences of the Australian Institute of Packaging and the Asian Packaging Federation. He has presented training workshops and seminars in Australia, Indonesia, Thailand, Spain and Tunisia. He is a member of the Committee on Shock and Vibration of Standards Australia, and the Society of Experimental Mechanics.

For his work on application of corrugated paperboard for cushioning Michael has received awards from the International Association of Packaging Research Institutes and the Packaging Council of Australia.