📢 Our new paper has been published in the Engineering Structures Journal. 📢 Title: “On the Efficiency of Uniform Aluminum Foams as Energy-Absorbing Sacrificial Cladding for Structural Blast Mitigation”

When structures are subjected to blast loads, a significant level of structural damage is generated. Because it is difficult to prevent damage, an alternative method suggests using sacrificial layers (e.g., Aluminum Foams – AF), which will experience the damage and absorb energy, and not the structural elements. Several studies modeled the coupled response of sacrificial layers made of AFs and structures. Damage reduction has always been attributed to the energy absorption of the foam.
In this paper, we present a new methodology based on the Shock Front Theory to evaluate the effectiveness of a sacrificial layer made of AF. In many cases, there is a reduction of structural damage when comparing an unprotected structure and a structure with AF. We show that in those cases, the reduction is a result of the foam mass added to the system and not always because of its ability to absorb energy. Using this methodology and the suggested model, we can design the coupled system more efficiently such that the foam will absorb a sufficient amount of energy and further reduce the structural damage, in addition to its mass component.

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