International Journal of JOURNAL Mechanical Engineering and Technology (IJMET), ISSN 0976 INTERNATIONAL OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING 6340(Print), ISSN

N 0976 6359(Online) Volume 4, Issue 3, May - June (2013) IAEME AND TECHNOLOGY (IJMET)

ISSN 0976 6340 (Print) ISSN 0976 6359 (Online) Volume 4, Issue 3, May - June (2013), pp. 118-124 IAEME: www.iaeme.com/ijmet.asp Journal Impact Factor (2013): 5.7731 (Calculated by GISI) www.jifactor.com

IJMET
IAEME

ENERGY ABSORPTION BEHAVIOUR OF SEMI-RIGID POLYURETHANE FOAM UNDER LOW VELOCITY IMPACT
H.C.Chittappa1
1

Department of Mechanical Engineering, University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering, Bangalore, India

ABSTRACT The current work deals with a study on the energy absorption behaviour of semi-rigid polyurethane (PU) foam under dynamic loading conditions. Foam samples of different densities are tested at different strain rates using a low velocity impact testing rig. The samples considered are of densities (75 3) kg/m3, (125 3) kg/m3 and (175 3) kg/m3.The influence of variation in density and impact velocity on the energy absorption capability of PU foams has been studied under compressive loading conditions with a drop-weight impactor. The experimental results reveal that both these parameters (i.e. density and strain rate) have a considerable effect on energy absorption attributes of PU foam. Finally, the experimental stress-strain data is utilized to reproduce the test behaviors of foam under impact loading using explicit finite element analysis. Keywords : Polyurethane foam, density, energy absorption, low velocity impact, strain rate, finite element analysis. I. INTRODUCTION

Polymeric foams such as polyurethane (PU) and polystyrene foams comprise the widest variety of foams in terms of applications. Considering mechanical behaviour, such foams can again be broadly classified as: viscoelastic (i.e. recoverable) and rigid (i.e. crushable). The former category is suitable for repetitive use such as in seat cushions while the latter type of foam is preferred for applications requiring impact energy absorption with higher stroke as a main performance objective. Energy absorbing PU foams are frequently
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International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Technology (IJMET), ISSN 0976 6340(Print), ISSN 0976 6359(Online) Volume 4, Issue 3, May - June (2013) IAEME

used as vehicle occupant protection countermeasures in doors and instrument panels, or even for improving vehicle crashworthiness in low velocity impact as packaging in front and rear bumpers. Expanded polystyrene foams with their relatively higher strength are often found as protective liners in motorbike crash helmets. It has been observed that visco-elastic foams are endowed with closed cells with trapped air or gas which is compressed under application of load and which expands back on removal of load enabling the deformed cells to regain their original configuration. In crushable foams, cells are commonly of open types which allow higher deformation of foam under applied loading leading to greater energy absorption as compared to recoverable foams; however, damages are inflicted in cell walls causing the overall deformation to be of permanent or irrecoverable nature. Rigid foams are actually an extreme case in which foam after crushing can be reduced to a largely amorphous state. More common crushable foams can be termed as semi-rigid as in addition to higher energy absorption as compared to visco-elastic foams. Polymeric foams have been studied widely in literature in terms of their microstructures, phenomenological behaviour, and engineering applications. A number of investigators have also focused on the yielding of polymeric foam under uniaxial and multiaxial compressive loads, structural efficiency, energy absorption attributes, and effects of density and strain rates on engineering properties [1-5] which are of particular interest in the study carried out by the present authors. Shaw and Sata [1] found the yield criterion for a cellular material to be the maximum compressive stress when experiments were performed on foamed polystyrene under a variety of loading conditions. Saha et al. [2] considered polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and polyurethane (PU) foams under compressive loading at low (0.001-0.1s-1) and high (130-1750 s-1) strain rates. The authors studied the effects of foam density, foam microstructure and strain rate on peak stress and energy absorption. The densities of foam considered were relatively on a higher side (100-300 kg/m3). Kurauchi et al. [3] tried to explain the energy-absorption mechanism of polymeric foams with progressive "layer by layer" crushing of cells beginning with the layer containing the weakest cell. Hinkey and Yang [4] investigated the behaviour of polyurethane foams over a range of densities and strain rates, and derived empirical relations for modulus of elasticity and yield stress as functions of density. As revealed in these published studies, polymeric foams exhibit a high degree of dependence on dynamic strain rate compared to solid metallic materials. This dependence is due to the solid material properties and to the presence of a fluid, generally air, inside the foam [5]. While experimental and analytical studies provide insight into the complexities of foam microstructures as well as the macroscopic stress-strain characteristics of foam under loading and unloading conditions, numerical simulation techniques can be of invaluable aid in the efficient design of foam-based countermeasures for applications such as impact energy absorption [6-10]. To support this objective of engineering design, samples of semi-rigid PU foam of three different densities are at first tested here in a drop-weight testing machine with nominal impact velocities in the range of 35 m/s with indicative strain rates in the range of 60-100 s-1. Foam energy absorption under these impact tests is shown to be dependent on both density and strain rate. The stress-strain curves generated from the experimental load-displacement behaviours are then used to simulate the drop tests with an explicit LS-DYNA solver and close correlation between the computed load time histories and corresponding experimental responses is obtained.

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II.

PREPARATION OF PU FOAM SAMPLES

Foam specimens 0f 50 mm3 are prepared with different densities. These are obtained by mixing different quantities of methane diisocyanate (MDI) with polyol solution. In terms of density, the foam samples are categorized into three groups and designated as PU-1 (density: 65 3 kg/m3), PU-2 (density: 75 3 kg/m3) and PU-3 (density: 85 3 kg/m3). Three specimens are prepared for each category (i.e. PU1, PU2 or PU3) and their densities, as given in Table 1.

Fig. 1. Acrylic mould used for specimen preparation Table1. Densities of foam specimens for testing Specimen Group PU1 Density (kg/m3) 73 74 76 122 124 126 172 175 176

PU2

PU3

Mass (10-3 kg) 9.125 9.250 9. 500 15. 250 15. 500 15. 875 21. 500 21. 875 22. 000

III.

DROP TEST PROCEDURE

The setup consists of a drop mass weight about 12.5 kg along with the rectangular impactor. The impacted mass is made to free fall under gravity through a steel guide. The side support column is graduated in cm so that the height of fall can be noted down. Below there is steel rigid base plate on which the foam specimen is mounted. The high speed camera is focused on the specimen and the load cell is placed on the impactor mass to measure the impact force of the specimen. Two accelerometers mounted on its either sides of the impactor arm for measuring the acceleration during impact. Impact Force v/s Time and Acceleration v/s Time were recorded.
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Fig 2: Low velocity Impact test rig IV. TEST RESULTS

Figure 3: Drop test setup

Polyurethane foam samples of three different densities (i.e. 75 3, 125 3 and 175 3 kg/m3) as indicated in Table 1 have been tested under low velocity impact conditions in the drop-weight test rig. Each of the three samples of a given foam density is subjected to a different impact velocity corresponding to an impactor drop height of 0.5 m or 1.0 m or 1.5 m. The average test-based velocities corresponding to these drop heights in an increasing order have been found to be 3.1 m/s, 4.4 m/s and 5.4 m/s. Truly speaking, the strain rate in any drop test varies with time. The drop tests in the current study for the three impact velocities as mentioned have been characterized by an indicative strain rate which may be close to the maximum strain rate experienced in any test and given as , V0 being the velocity of the impact hammer just before striking a test specimen and h , the height of a specimen which is 50 mm. For the present average impact velocities of 3.1 m/s, 4.4 m/s and 5.4 m/s, the characteristic strain rates are then found to be 62.5 s-1, 88.5 s-1 and 108.5 s-1 respectively. As mentioned earlier, foams of a given type, viz. PU1, PU2 or PU3, are tested with three different impact velocities, i.e. 3.1 m/s, 4.4 m/s and 5.4 m/s. The total energy absorbed by a given foam sample is calculated by integrating the force-displacement curve obtained. Effect strain rate on energy absorption shown in fig4 and effect of density on strain rate and energy absorption shown in fig5.
V0 h

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V.

NUMERICAL SIMULATION

Finite element analysis was performed using LS-Dyna. The 50mm cube foam specimen was meshed with 15x15x15 mesh density and the graphical view of complete Finite Element Model as shown in Figure 6. The following boundary conditions are imposed on the numerical model: all nodes of the bottom face of the cubic foam are restrained in both horizontal and vertical directions. A flat impactor moving at a defined velocity opposite face, impactor motions are constrained except the translation in vertical direction.

Fig. 6. Graphical View of Assembled FE Model

Fig 7 Force vs. Time comparison Curves for a foam density 172Kg/m3 @ 0.5m

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International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Technology (IJMET), ISSN 0976 6340(Print), ISSN 0976 6359(Online) Volume 4, Issue 3, May - June (2013) IAEME

Fig.8 Force vs. Time comparison Curves for a foam density 175Kg/m3 @ 1.0m

Fig 9 Force vs. Time comparison Curves for a foam density 176Kg/m3 @ 1.5m In Figs 7,8 and 9 the comparison between Finite element method and experimental data is shown for drop-tests performed on cubic samples of the Polyurethane foam with mass density of 1753 Kg/m3 at three strain rate of 62.5 /s, 88.6 /s and 108.5/s ( at Drop Height 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5 m). The obtained result correlate well with the test and are very close to each other, with the exception the predicted force was little higher than that seen in the tests. The higher predicted force can be attributed to the model not including the energy release due to the damage (matrix cracking). VI. CONCLUSION

The practical problems included in the numerical analysis of foams, include the selection of the material law capable of reproducing foams response under dynamic loads causing high or at least medium deformation and the generation of finite element models that give a smooth representation of the complex undeformed and deformed geometries of the foam structures.
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REFERENCES Journal Papers: [1] M. C. Shaw and T. Sata, The plastic behavior of cellular materials, Int. J. Mech. Sci. Vol. 8 (1966), pp. 469-478. [2] M.C. Saha, H. Mahfuz, U.K.Charavarty, M. Uddin, Md. E. Kabir, S. Jeelani, Effect of density, microstructure, and strain rate on compression behaviour of polymeric foams, Materials Science and Engineering A406, (2005) ,pp.328-336. [3] T. Kurauchi, N. Sato, O. Kamigaito and N. Komatsu. Mechanism of high energy absorption by foamed materials foamed rigid polyurethane and foamed glass, J. Mater. Sci. 19, (1984), pp. 871- 880. [4] W. M. Hinckley and J. C. S. Yang, Analysis of rigid polyurethane foam as a shock mitigator, Exp. Mech. 15, (1975), pp. 177 -183. [5] M. Avalle, G. Belingardi, R. Montanini, Characterization of polymeric structural foams under compressive impact loading by means of energy-absorption diagram, International Journal of Impact Engineering 25, (2001),pp. 455-472. [6] C. C. Chou, Y. Zhao, L. Chai, J. Co, G. G. Lim, Development of Foam Models as Applications to Vehicle Interior, SAE Paper No. 952733, 1995. [7] Gerhard, Gavin, Onkar Bijjargi, Transverse Anisotropic Modelling of Honeycomb Extruded Polypropylene Foam in Ls-Dyna to Optimize Energy Absorption Countermeasures, SAE Paper No. 2005-01-1222, 2005. [8] C. Clifford . Chou, Y. Zhao, George G. Lim, Rasik N. Patel, Syab Shahab, Praful J. Patel Comparative Analysis of Different Energy Absorbing Materials for Interior Head Impact, SAE Paper No. 950332, 1995. [9] G. S. Nusholtz, S. Bilkhu, M. Founas, Impact Response of Foam: the Effect of the State of Stress, SAE Paper No. 962418, 1996 [10] J. Wycech, Mark C. Butler Dynamic Reinforcing Strategies Using Structural Foam, SAE Paper No. 2003-01-1708, 2003. [11] Piyush Chandra Verma and Ajay Gupta, Study of Electrochemical Oxidation Behaviour of High Build Epoxy, Cold Applied Poly Defined Tape and Polyurethane Coating System in Saline Environment, International Journal of Mechanical Engineering & Technology (IJMET), Volume 3, Issue 2, 2012, pp. 73 - 84, ISSN Print: 0976 6340, ISSN Online: 0976 6359. [12] ArkanJawdat Abassa and DhaferSadeq Al-Fatal, Experimental and Theoretical Study of the Influence of the Addition of Alumina Powder To 7020 Aluminum Alloy Foam on the Mechanical Behavior under Impact Loading, International Journal of Mechanical Engineering & Technology (IJMET), Volume 3, Issue 3, 2012, pp. 412 - 428, ISSN Print: 0976 6340, ISSN Online: 0976 6359.

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