Interactions among structural components during complex impact events

Abstract

In the present study the impact and energy absorption behaviour of a system, consisting of a thermoplastic eggbox structure, EPP foam, steel and aluminum sheets, is studied. The considered energy-absorbing system represents an interaction chain of different constituent components. Within the study these components and different systems with increasing complexity are investigated experimentally and further modelled with the finite element code LS-Dyna, taking into account the interactions between the constituent structures and the influence of these interactions on the energy-absorbing ability of the complete system. Based on experimental investigations and the results obtained from the simpler systems a finite element model for the complete system is built, enabling to simulate the impact event under different boundary conditions without adjustment of the model-related parameters to the corresponding experiments. The influence of different contact parameters on the simulation model is studied. The purpose is to increase the accuracy of the FEM prediction of the real impact event, which is independent of the loading and boundary conditions, by detecting and quantifying the interactions between structural components in systems under dynamical loadings.

Keywords:

• energy absorption
• pedestrian safety
• strain rate sensitivity
• FEM modelling
• impact simulations

Acknowledgement

The authors express their gratitude to the German Scientific Foundation (DFG) for the financial support.