Energy Absorption Capacity of Rigid Polyurethane Foam under Impact Load
Kedir Mohamedraja Seid
Kedir Mohamedraja Seid, Material Engineer in Addis Ababa city roads authority. MSc on structural engineering from university of Addis Ababa science and Technology College of civil engineering and architecture.
Manuscript received on 04 April 2021 | Revised Manuscript received on 08 April 2021 | Manuscript Accepted on 15 April 2021 | Manuscript published on 30 April 2021 | PP: 8-14 | Volume-1 Issue-1, April 2021 | Retrieval Number:100.1/ijam.A1109101121
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© The Authors. Published by Lattice Science Publication (LSP). This is an open-access article under the CC-BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Abstract: Vehicles has multiple safety mechanisms such as air bags, sit belts and ABS brakes to protect lives of occupants. Also, road safety and management offers various solutions like speed breakers and road side barriers to supplement and minimize damages of errand vehicle crashes. This thesis work presents mainly finite element analysis of a rigid polyurethane foam under impact loading. Energy absorption capacity of a rigid polyurethane foam was quantified both under impact load of a drop hammer; and a passenger car with mass of 1200 kg and 2000 kg and approach speed 30km/hr. and 50km/hr. scenario. In the absence of field crash tests principle of energy conservation were used to validate developed finite element models. FEA results showed road side barrier designed with an equivalent design static force of 377 KN and a rigid polyurethane foam thickness of 60.5 cm offers a forgiving road side barrier scenario by absorbing energy and re-directing impacting passenger car into inward lanes. Also, FEA results revealed thickness of a rigid polyurethane foam affects energy-absorbing capacity of a rigid polyurethane foam. For 50 km/hr. impacting speed, as thickness of a rigid polyurethane foam decreased by 33%, the material energy absorption capabilities lost by 100% whereas 33 % thickness increment resulted in 33 % additional energy absorption capacity.
Keywords: Rigid polyurethane foam, LS-DYNA, Energy absorption, Vehicle impact.