On the crush behaviour of ultralight foam-filled structures

In this paper, we conduct comprehensive finite element simulations and experimental studies to investigate the crush behaviour of PVC foam-filled thin-walled circular tubes. Of prime importance to the current study is the influence of the relative stiffness of the composite structure on the collapse mechanism and energy absorption characteristics. Three aspects of the work are accordingly examined. The first is concerned with the finite element modelling of the crush behaviour of foam-filled structures using explicit solvers, accounting for mass scale levels and velocity scaling factors. The second deals with comparing the finite element predictions with the findings of extensive crush test results with specific interest in normalised load–deformation behaviour, specific energy absorption (SEA) and modes of collapse. The third is concerned with examining the effect of key geometrical properties of the foam-filled structure on the collapse mechanism and SEA. The results indicated that the relative axial stiffness plays an important role in dictating the mechanical response the structure.