Energy Absorption of Multi-Material Cellular Structures

Inspired by the design of lightweight cellular structures in nature, humans have made cellular solids for a wide range of engineering applications. Cellular structures composed of solid and gaseous phases, and an interconnected network of solid struts or plates that form the cell's edges and faces. This makes them an ideal candidate for numerous energy absorption applications in the military, transportation, and automotive industries. The objective of the thesis is to study the energy-absorption of multi-material cellular structures. Cellular structures made from Acrylonitrile-Butadiene-Styrene (ABS) a thermoplastic polymer and Thermoplastic Polyurethane (TPU) a thermoplastic elastomer were manufactured using dual extrusion 3D printing. The surface-based structures were designed with partitions to allocate different materials using Matlab and nTopology. Aperiodicity was introduced to the design through perturbation. The specimens were designed for two wall thicknesses - 0.5mm and 1mm, respectively. In total, 18 specimens were designed and 3D printed. All the specimens were tested under quasi-static compression. A detailed analysis was performed to study the energy absorption metrics and draw conclusions, with emphasis on specific energy absorbed as a function of relative density, efficiency, and peak stress of the specimens to hypothesize and validate mechanisms for observed behavior. All the specimens were analyzed to draw comparisons across designs.