Effect of Impact Angle on the Impact Mechanical Properties of Bionic Foamed Silicone Rubber Sandwich Structure

Polymers (Basel). 2023 Jan 29;15(3):688. doi: 10.3390/polym15030688.

Abstract

In this paper, a red-eared slider turtle is used as the prototype for the bionic design of the foamed silicone rubber sandwich structure. The effect of impact angle on the performance of the foamed silicone rubber sandwich structure against low-velocity impact is studied by the finite element method. The numerical model uses the intrinsic structure model of foamed silicone rubber with porosity and the three-dimensional Hashin fiberboard damage model. The validity of the model was verified after experimental comparison. Based on the finite element simulation of different impact angles and velocities, the relationship between impact velocity and residual velocity, as well as the penetration threshold at various impact angles are obtained, and the change law of impact resistance of foamed silicone rubber sandwich structure with impact angle and velocity, as well as the damage pattern of sandwich structure at different impact angles and velocities are given. The results can provide a basis for the impact resistance design of the bionic foamed silicone rubber sandwich structure. The results show that, at a certain impact speed, the smaller the impact angle, the longer the path of the falling hammer along the plane of the sandwich structure, the lighter the damage to the sandwich structure and the greater the absorbed energy, so that avoiding the impact from the frontal side of the sandwich structure can effectively reduce the damage of the sandwich structure. When the impact angle is greater than 75°, the difference in impact resistance performance is only 2.9% compared with 90°, and the impact angle has less influence on the impact resistance performance at this time.

Keywords: damage mode; finite element simulation; foamed silicone rubber sandwich structure; impact angle; impact resistance; red-eared slider turtle.