Energy absorption and optimization of Bi-directional corrugated honeycomb aluminum

To replace wood as the filler material for the impact limiter of the spent nuclear fuel transportation cask, a bidirectional corrugated honeycomb aluminum (BDCHA) was manufactured. First, five materials with different cell thickness/cell size ratios (t0/a) were designed, and compression tests were performed under quasi-static conditions. The results show that the initial peak stress and the plateau stress both increase with the increase of the t0/a ratio. The plateau zone determines the energy absorption performance; therefore, this study focuses on the analysis of the mechanical properties of the plateau stage. Furthermore, through the compression theory, the energy dissipation process of the unit cell was evaluated, and the mean stress equation was obtained; the theoretically obtained plateau stress was similar to the test plateau stress. Moreover, the ideal constitutive relationship of the material based on the t0/a ratio under static load was derived. Finite element analysis was used for simulation. The stress-strain results of the test and the simulation were close. Furthermore, the structural parameters were optimized via multiobjective optimization. Through the analysis of the mechanical properties of BDCHA, derived its rationality and feasibility as a shock-absorbing filling material.

Automated summary

In this study, a bidirectional corrugated honeycomb aluminum (BDCHA) material was designed with different thickness/cell size ratios and compression tests were conducted to analyze its mechanical properties, focusing on the plateau stage for energy absorption performance. Theoretical analysis and finite element simulation showed close agreement between the test and simulation results, with optimal structural parameters obtained through multiobjective optimization. The rationality and feasibility of BDCHA as a shock-absorbing filling material were demonstrated through the analysis of its mechanical properties.