Experimental, numerical, and analytical studies on polyurethane foam-filled energy absorption connectors under quasi-static loading

This paper proposes a novel polyurethane foam-filled energy absorption connector with advanced geometry to dissipate energy. Quasi-static loading tests of these connectors were first conducted to evaluate failure mechanisms and energy absorption performances. Numerical and analytical models which exhibited results consistent with those of the experiment were developed to predict and conduct an in-depth study of the energy absorption characteristics. The results revealed that most energy absorption parameters could be enhanced by filling polyurethane foam, increasing the armed plate thickness, and decreasing the height from the top of the armed plate to the intersecting point of the two arms. The findings from this work help understand the failure mechanism and energy absorption behaviour of the proposed connectors, and they will promote potential applications of these connectors in terms of dissipating blast or impact energy.