Functionally Graded Biomimetic Energy Absorption Concept Development for Transportation Systems.

摘要

Mechanics of a functionally graded cylinder subject to static or dynamic axial loading is considered, including a potential application as energy absorber. The mass density and stiffness are power functions of the radial coordinate as may be the case with variable-density open-cell or closed-cell foams. Exact solutions are obtained in the static problem and in the case where the applied load is a periodic function of time. The absorption of energy is analyzed in the static problem that is reduced to an easily implementable nondimensional formulation. It is demonstrated that by using foams with a variable in the radial direction mass density it is possible to achieve higher energy absorption while at the same time saving weight.