Computational analysis of auxetic structures application potential in impact absorbers

Master thesis deals with the analysis of the application potential of auxetic materials in the field of shock absorption (absorption of impact energy). Due to their cellular structure and specific geometry, these materials are characterized by a negative Poisson’s ratio, which means that they are able to reduce their transverse dimension under compressive stress in the longitudinal direction. The aim of this work is to use this interesting property for the absorption of kinetic energy. After the introduction, devoted to the theoretical basis and research in the field of auxetic structures, a numerical FEM model is described in detail. The task of the model is to study the mechanical response of auxetic and conventional cellular structure to an impact loading. An explicit solver in the commercial software LS-DYNA is used to numerically simulate fast processes. The results of the analyses are used to compare auxetic and conventional structures and quantify the differences in their ability to dampen the kinetic energy of the impact effectively and gently. It also serves to demonstrate the influence of individual geometric or material parameters on impact attenuation. At the end of the work, numerical simulations are confronted with available experiments in order to verify the informative value of computational models and to point out the application potential of auxetic structures in the discussion. There are also partial recommendations for their design so that they best serve the intended purpose