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Time-dependent crashworthiness of polyurethane foam

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Abstract

Time-dependent stress–strain relationship as well as crashworthiness of polyurethane foam was investigated under constant impact energy with different velocities, considering inertia and strain-rate effects simultaneously during the impact testing. Even though the impact energies were same, the percentage in increase in densification strain due to higher impact velocities was found, which yielded the wider plateau region, i.e. growth in crashworthiness. This phenomenon is analyzed by the microstructure of polyurethane foam obtained from scanning electron microscopy. The equations, coupled with the Sherwood–Frost model and the impulse-momentum theory, were employed to build the constitutive equation of the polyurethane foam and calculate energy absorption capacity of the foam. The nominal stress–strain curves obtained from the constitutive equation were compared with results from impact tests and were found to be in good agreement. This study is dedicated to guiding designer use polyurethane foam in crashworthiness structures such as an automotive bumper system by providing crashworthiness data, determining the crush mode, and addressing a mathematical model of the crashworthiness.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (KR) under the grant number of D00011.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA

    Munshi Mahbubul Basit

  2. Division of Mechanical and Automotive Engineering, Kongju National University, Chungnam, Republic of Korea

    Seong Sik Cheon

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  1. Munshi Mahbubul Basit
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  2. Seong Sik Cheon
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Correspondence to Munshi Mahbubul Basit.

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Basit, M.M., Cheon, S.S. Time-dependent crashworthiness of polyurethane foam. Mech Time-Depend Mater 23, 207–221 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11043-018-9391-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11043-018-9391-2

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