Abstract
To evaluate the crash safety of automobiles, various collision tests are performed by the auto industry. In the offset frontal collision test and the side collision test, the target is an aluminum honeycomb material which has thinning cell walls. In this study, based on the analyses of the shock absorption mechanism, a new crushing strength formula is proposed. First, load-displacement curves obtained from compression tests in quasi-static condition showed an almost linear relation between a thinning rate of cell walls and a crushing strength. Second, based on Wierzbicki's theory, a new formula was proposed, which can estimate a crushing strength of a honeycomb material with thinning wall. In addition, a correcting equation which considered an elastic deformation was also proposed. Third, parametric analyses were carried out with a FE model which can simulate a delamination between cell walls. The results obtained from the theory and FEM almost corresponded to each other for a wide range of the thinning rate. Fourth, impact tests were carried out, in which the weight was dropped freely at the speed used for the automobile tests. Those results almost agreed well with the sum of the theoretical crush strength and the inside air pressure.
