• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2003.04a
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• pp.19-24
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• 2003

Potential applications of foam-filled section are the automotive structures. A foam-filled section can be used for the front rail and firewall structures to absorb impact energy during frontal or side collision. In the case of side collision where bending is involved in the crushing mechanics, the foam filler will be significant in maintaining progressive crushing of the thin-walled structures so that more impact energy can be absorbed. In this study, the manufacturing process of closed cell aluminum alloy foam filled stainless steel tube was studied, and the various foam filled specimens including piecewise fillers were prepared, tested and discussed about the bending behaviors.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.27 no.10
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• pp.1686-1694
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• 2003

The foam-filled tube beams can be used for the front rail and firewall structures to absorb impact energy during frontal or side collision of vehicles. In the case of side collision where bending is involved in the crushing mechanism, the foam filler would be effective in maintaining progressive crushing of the thin-walled structures so that much impact energy could be absorbed. In this study, bending behaviors of the closed-cell-aluminum-alloy-foam-filled stainless steel tube were investigated. The various foam-filled specimens including piecewise fillers were prepared and tested. The aluminum-alloy-foam filling offered the significant increase of bending resistance. Their suppression of the inward fold formation at the compression flange as well as the multiple propagating folds led to the increase of load carrying capacity of specimens. Moreover, the piecewise foams would provide the easier way to fill the thin-walled shell structures without the drawback of strength.

• Transactions of Materials Processing
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• v.20 no.8
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• pp.555-561
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• 2011

The energy absorbing characteristics of crash members in a car collision play an important role in controlling the amount of damage to the passenger compartment. Crash members filled with aluminum foam are expected to have reduced mass while maintaining or even improving the crashworthiness compared to the conventional hollow-beam types. Finite element simulations are carried out in the present work to assess the improvement of crashworthiness by the use of aluminum foam fillers. The numerical results agreed well with experimental measurements. Parametric studies are conducted to analyze the effect of impact velocity, weld strength, and initiator on the crash response.