cross section crash boxes

CHAPTER 4
EXPERIMENTAL DETAILS
4.1. Compression Testing of Aluminum Foam
As received Alulight Al (AlSi10) closed cell foam panels were in 625x625x30
mm size (Figure 4.1). The panels had broadly two different densities, 426 kg m -3 and
512 kg m -3 , corresponding to the relative densities of 0.11 and 0.15, respectively. The
panels accommodated relatively dense Al layer at the edges and the corners. The dense
Al layer was mainly resulted from the nature of the foam production process. Before the
preparation of tests samples, the dense Al regions near the edges and corners of the
panels (30 mm from the edges) were removed using a decoupling machine (Figure
4.2(a)). Then, the panels were sliced into 70 mm wide and 565 mm long strips (Figure
4.2(b)). Later, cubic compression test samples with the dimension of 30x30x30mm
(Figure 4.3(a)) were cut from these strips using the decoupling machine. Before
compression testing, the weight of each foam test sample was measured. The uniaxial
compression tests were performed at a crosshead speed of 5 mm min -1 through the
thickness direction of the foam samples as depicted in Figure 4.3(b). The corresponding
compression strain rate (the cross-head speed divided by the initial thickness of test
sample) was 2.77 x10 -3
s -1
.
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