Simulation of the Drop Impact Behaviour of Metallic Hollow Sphere Structure

Metallic hollow sphere structures (MHSS) form a new group of advanced composite materials characterised by high geometry reproduction leading to stable mechanical and physical properties. The MHSS combine the well-known advantages of cellular metals in terms of their high ability for energy adsorption, good damping behaviour, excellent heat insulation and high specific stiffness without major scattering of their material parameters. Combination of these properties opens a wide field of potential applications, e.g. in automotive (crash absorber) and aerospace industry (sandwich panels). Various joining technologies such as sintering, soldering and adhering can be used to assemble single metallic hollow spheres to interdependent structures and allow to adjust different macroscopic properties. In this study, reliable drop-weight impact simulations for MHSS plates are carried out and the influence of different material formulations is investigated. The numerical results of the low velocity impact testing based on a dropping steel cylinder form the basis for the design of an appropriate experimental realisation.

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