Investigating the dynamic compression response of elastomeric, additively manufactured fluid-filled structures via experimental and finite element analyses

Soe, Shwe; Adams, Rhosslyn; Hossain, Mokarram; Theobald, Peter

Abstract

This study evaluates a fluid-filled, closed-cell lattice as a novel route to reducing peak acceleration in impact environments. A conical structure was designed and built using fused filament fabrication. One structure was manufactured hollow (100% air), another 70% filled with water (50% by height) and a third 100% water-filled. Peak acceleration was evaluated by performing 4.1 kg impacts at 1, 2, 3 m/s. Impacts were then simulated in shell and solid finite element analysis models, employing the smooth particle hydrodynamic method for the water and a surface-based fluid-filled cavity method for air. The air-filled, conventional closed-cell structures achieved the lowest peak accelerations at lower impact energies, however, water infill improved impact performance at higher energies. For low to medium impact energies, shell and solid modelling accurately simulated experimental trends, although the latter is more computationally expensive. Solid modelling is the only viable solution for scenarios achieving structural densification, due to the inaccuracies in shell-based models caused by the inter-surface penetrations. This work has demonstrated that fluid-filled structures provide a promising approach to reduce acceleration and so achieving enhanced protection, whilst also presenting a computational pathway that will enable efficient design of new and novel structures.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Feb 1, 2021
• Online Publication Date: Feb 4, 2021
• Publication Date: Mar 1, 2021
• Deposit Date: Feb 10, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 19, 2021
• Journal: Additive Manufacturing
• Print ISSN: 2214-7810
• Electronic ISSN: 2214-8604
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 39
• Pages: 101885
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addma.2021.101885
• Keywords: Fluid-filled structure, Additive manufacturing, Dynamic compression, Smooth particle hydrodynamic, Visco-hyperelastic constitutive model
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/7079189
• Publisher URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addma.2021.101885
• Additional Information: This article is maintained by: Elsevier; Article Title: Investigating the dynamic compression response of elastomeric, additively manufactured fluid-filled structures via experimental and finite element analyses; Journal Title: Additive Manufacturing; CrossRef DOI link to publisher maintained version: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addma.2021.101885; Content Type: article; Copyright: © 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.