Expanded Polypropylene Finite Elements Analysis in Transport Application

Abstract

The current technology has reached a maturity degree which requires a higher complexity of the analyses performed in the development of a product. Most of the technological innovations involve recently discovered materials that exhibit an intricate behavior. For this reason, in the development of a new product, it is no longer satisfactory to perform static linear finite elements analyses and nonlinear analyses are required. The analyses which imply the use of nonlinear materials present certain difficulties and the risk of misleading results if not performed correctly. This paper intends to be an overview of a finite elements analysis of a transportation box made from expanded polypropylene. It highlights the steps that are required to reduce the inaccuracy of the results and minimize the gap between simulation and reality and also the problems which can occur along the process.