Ms.Sara AlMahri
Al-Mahri has completed her Masters degree from Khalifa University of Science and Technology.
Title: Evaluation of Energy Absorption Performance of Thermoplastic Polyurethane Auxetic Lattice Structures via Additive Manufacturing
Biography
Biography: Ms.Sara AlMahri
Abstract
Materials exhibiting a negative Poisson’s ratio, also known as auxetics, exhibit superior mechanical properties such as enhanced indentation resistance, impact shielding capability, and enhanced fracture resistance. In this paper, an experimental approach is taken to study, evaluate and utilize flexible auxetic structures made of thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) in energy absorption applications. The state-of-art additive manufacturing techniques enables the fabrication of such complex gemoetries via fused deposition modeling (FDM). Guided by experimental tests, mechanical and energy absorption response of the 3D printed lattice auxetics were measured under quasi-static uniaxial and cyclic compressive loadings. Moreover, a further study of the auxetic degree effect on the performance of the structure has been conducted and compared to the regular non-auxetic honeycombs structure. It was found that by integrating auxetic geometries into the lattice structures, both mechanical and energy absorption responses show significant enhancement. Auxetic S-Shape lattice structure showed 110% enhanced energy absorption, 130% enhanced modulus and 120% enhanced strength when compared to the regular honeycomb structure. The findings reported here provide a promising approach to design and fabricate auxetic lattice structures as they offer great potential in the field of personal protection where they have superior potential against impact in harsh environments.