Investigation of the Collapse Behavior of Aluminum Burr-Filled Cylindrical Energy Absorber Under Low-Velocity Impact

Energy absorbers find extensive applications in various industries, particularly in automotive and impact protection sectors. Various techniques have been employed to enhance the performance of energy absorbers, resulting in notable transformations such as the shift from asymmetric to symmetric collapse modes, increased energy absorption capacity, or reduced peak impact forces. In this novel study, the utilization of a burr-filled structure has been introduced as a means to increase the energy absorption capacity. The energy absorbers employed in this research comprised cylindrical bodies with a circular cross-section, which were filled with burr material of identical composition. The absorbers underwent testing at three distinct energy levels, namely 800, 1200, and 1600 Joules. The experimentation encompassed both unfilled samples and those filled with honeycomb structures, with four different mass configurations being considered for the burr fillers. The findings of the study demonstrate that increasing the mass of the burr filler within the absorber leads to a corresponding increase in energy absorption capacity. Specifically, the inclusion of a 40-g honeycomb burr-filler resulted in a notable 40% enhancement in energy absorption. However, the presence of the burr-filler had a minimal impact on the peak force. This is noteworthy as burr-filled structures are relatively lightweight and currently underutilized and waste materials, suggesting that the increased energy absorption achieved through their implementation can offer cost-effective solutions in industrial contexts. To ensure the reliability and accuracy of the observed improvements in absorbed energy, identical experimental samples were also simulated using the finite element software ABAQUS/Explicit, yielding consistent outcomes.