Application of smart honeycomb structures for automotive passive safety

Abstract

Nowadays, most energy-absorbing devices used in industry absorb energy through permanent deformation. In some cases, consumers have to repair or even replace energy absorbers even after a mild collision. The work presented in this paper proposes a novel reusable solution in the form of a hybrid bumper–crush can design where a recoverable structure is integrated into the bumper beam and crush can for a mild-collision situation in addition to the traditional energy absorbers recommended for more severe collisions. The main investigation is focused around the performance and optimisation of a negative-stiffness honeycomb, the recoverable structure and the honeycomb-filled elements. A comprehensive study was carried out to investigate numerically the behaviour of these energy-absorbing structures in crash conditions, corresponding to real scenarios and simulated using a specially developed finite element model.