Manufacturing process design for cellular structure used as impact energy absorbers

Abstract

The application of passive safety technology in vehicles is generally through impact-absorbing structures. This technology has been widely applied to trains, planes, and cars to protect passengers from fatal accidents. Cellular structures are defined by a unit cell that combines material, space, and unit cell repetition to obtain a large structure. It is selected as the base structure of the impact energy absorber for its potentially high specific energy absorption (SEA]. Such a structure poses a challenge in its manufacturing method. This study examines alternative manufacturing processes for cellular structures designed as impact absorbers, and then selects and develops an effective and efficient manufacturing method to produce these cellular structures. Several alternative manufacturing methods were chosen to exercise the use of a combined plaster molding technology and additive manufacturing for prototyping. Manufacturing process simulation studies were conducted using Altair Inspire Cast software to determine the success of the casting process. The final stage is to carry out the process of making cell structures and evaluating the results. This work results in an effective manufacturing process design to be implemented throughout the production stage. Furthermore, for mass production, mold patterns may be replaced by using injection molding.