Mechanics of Advanced Materials and Structures

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Modular assembly for multicell structures with

designable energy absorption characteristics

Kui Wang, Huijing Gao, Jin Wang, Depeng Wang, Wei Wen, Yong Peng &
Tianjian Yu

To cite this article: Kui Wang, Huijing Gao, Jin Wang, Depeng Wang, Wei Wen, Yong Peng
& Tianjian Yu (10 Jan 2024): Modular assembly for multicell structures with designable
energy absorption characteristics, Mechanics of Advanced Materials and Structures, DOI:
10.1080/15376494.2024.2301923

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MECHANICS OF ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURES
https://doi.org/10.1080/15376494.2024.2301923

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Modular assembly for multicell structures with designable energy absorption

characteristics
Kui Wanga, Huijing Gaoa, Jin Wanga, Depeng Wanga, Wei Wenb, Yong Penga, and Tianjian Yua
a
School of Traffic & Transportation Engineering, Key Laboratory of Traffic Safety on Track of Ministry of Education, School of Traffic &
Transportation Engineering, Central South University, Changsha, China; bDepartment of Engineering, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK

ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY

In this study, a novel modular multicell structure was proposed to achieve tunable energy absorp­ Received 13 October 2023
tion characteristics. Dovetail grooves and protrusions were designed on square thin-walled tubes Accepted 2 January 2024
as interfaces to realize the modular assembly. The quasi-static compression experimental results
KEYWORDS
showed that single thin-walled tubes made of thermoplastic polyurethanes and short carbon-
Thin-walled structure;
fiber-reinforced polyamide exhibited high elasticity and high compressive strength, respectively. multicell structure; modular
Due to the different mechanical properties of the two materials, energy absorption performance assembly; energy
of modular structures reached different levels with the variation of cell materials. The concept of absorption; 3D printing
modular multicell structure provided possibility to customize energy absorbers with desired prop­
erties.

GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

1. Introduction decagonal and octagonal cross-sectional shapes had the best

energy absorption capacity compared with other polygonal
Due to its excellent mechanical properties and lightweight,
cross-section tubes. Esmaeili-Marzdashti et al. [19] found
thin-walled structures are extensively used in vehicles to dis­
that the multicell s-shaped members performed better than
sipate crash energy and protect passengers [1–4]. Since the
pioneering work of Alexander in the 1960s [5], researchers single-cell ones in terms of crashworthiness. Gong et al. [20]
have made numerous innovative improvements to thin- proposed a novel multicell square tube. The novel tube was
walled structures to satisfy higher requirements for energy composed of n � n square cells, and the square cells were
absorption performance [6–9]. Using multicell thin-walled connected in a corner-to-corner way. The results showed
structures is one of the effective approaches to enhance that the specific energy absorption of the novel multicell
crashworthiness [10–12]. Amounts of effort were dedicated tube was 69.59% higher than that of a single tube. Shi et al.
to the study of multicell structures. Pirmohammad et al. [21] designed four novel reinforced multicorner columns.
[13–18] comprehensively studied the crushing behavior of The results showed that the novel multicell tubes had prom­
various polygonal cross-section tubes under axial or oblique inent crushing performances compared with other typical
loads. It was found that the multicell columns with multicell tubes.

CONTACT Tianjian Yu [email protected] Key Laboratory of Traffic Safety on Track of Ministry of Education, School of Traffic & Transportation
Engineering, Central South University, Changsha, China.
� 2024 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
2 K. WANG ET AL.

With the deepening of the study, researchers carried out In this work, a novel type of modular multicell structure
new explorations on the multicell structure. They proposed was proposed. A square thin-walled tube was used as a func­
that instead of being an indivisible whole, multicell struc­ tional component to absorb crushing energy, and dovetail
tures could be broken down into many individual cells and grooves and protrusions were employed as the standard
assembled from these single cells. As a result, the perform­ interfaces for assembly. Four thin-walled tubes were
ance of multicell systems could be adjusted by controlling assembled into a modular four-cell structure. The modules
the arrangement of single cells. This greatly increased the were manufactured by 3D printing technology using
flexibility of the multicell system design. Liu et al. [22] thermoplastic polyurethane and short carbon-fiber-rein­
obtained the bonded double-cell and triple-cell tubes by forced polyamide. The quasi-static axial compressions of sin­
applying adhesive to the outer surfaces of the single-cell gle thin-walled tubes and modular multicell structures were
square tubes. They found that the cell number was an essen­ carried out. This study aimed to investigate the failure
tial parameter to improve the crashworthiness characteristics modes and energy-absorbing characteristics of the novel
for both the CFRP and the Al tubes. Zhang et al. [23] structure and verify the feasibility of modular multicell
designed a self-locking multicell tube assembled by four C- structures.
shaped open sections. The results showed that the specific
energy absorption of the assembled multicell structure 2. Experimental procedure
increased by 35–40% compared to the single C-shaped
structure under quasi-static crushing, and the interactions 2.1. Design and processing
between the cells contributed significantly to the crush The materials selected in this article were thermoplastic pol­
resistance of the whole structure. Chen et al. [24–26] pro­ yurethanes (TPU) and short carbon-fiber-reinforced poly­
posed a self-locking system assembled by dumbbell-shaped amide (PACF). According to the data provided by the
tubes to prevent lateral splash from impact loadings. They supplier (eSUN, Shenzhen, China), the tensile strength of
investigated the stacking arrangement of multiple-tube sys­ thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPU) was 35 MPa and its
tems and found that the energy absorption increased with elongation at break exceeded 800%; the tensile strength of
both the layer number and tube-per-layer number. PACF was 140 MPa and its elongation at break was 10.61%.
The single cells can be independently produced, changed, Based on these data and previous research, the material
and replaced with other cells. However, it is still a young properties of TPU were high elasticity, high toughness, and
field of research to take such advantages to improve custom­ low stiffness [32, 33]. To balance the materials’ mechanical
izability and modifiability of multicell structures. Hence, it properties and achieve flexible adjustment of overall struc­
was proposed to apply the modular design to the construc­ tural response, PACF with different properties from TPU
tion of multicell structures, which could enhance the vari­ was chosen. PACF was a composite material with high
ability and fault tolerance of the product. Currently, there strength and high stiffness [34–36]. It was widely used in
are some studies on modular energy absorbers, which show the aerospace and automobile industries [37, 38].
their potential to quickly adapt to various collision environ­ Because 3D printing techniques had the advantages of
ments and serve as secondary structures to achieve gradient enabling faster prototyping and increasing product custom­
energy absorption design. Lang et al. [27] proposed ization [39–43], all specimens were fabricated by a commer­
assembled honeycomb structures with tunable mechanical cial 3D printer Raise3D N2 Plus (Costa Mesa, USA). The
properties. The assembled hexagonal honeycomb had lower TPU and PACF filaments used in this study had nominal
diameters of 1.75 mm, which were purchased from eSUN
bearing capacity and smaller reaction force, making it suit­
(Shenzhen, China). The printing process based on the fused
able for assembly on ships. The assembled reentrant honey­
deposition modeling (FDM) technique is shown in Figure
comb with superior energy absorption capacity could be
1(a). The filaments were heated to a liquid or semi-liquid
applied to water building structures such as piers. Yang
state and extruded from the nozzle, and then, specimens
et al. [28, 29] designed several modular assembled systems.
were printed layer-by-layer on the build platform. The print­
These systems could freely change size and shape to be ing was performed using a nozzle with a diameter of
quickly arranged surrounding different protected objects for 0.4 mm. For TPU material, the printing temperature, plat­
emergent engineering demands. Mo et al. [30] designed a form temperature and average printing speed were 235 � C,
new modular bumper energy absorber, locking fifteen X- 20 � C, and 20 mm/s, respectively. For PACF material, the
shaped energy-absorbing units with two clamping boost printing temperature, platform temperature and average
beams. After the collision, only the damaged X-shaped units printing speed were 250 � C, 50 � C, and 60 mm/s, respectively
needed to be replaced and other units remaining intact [44]. Specimens were printed with a 100% infill density with
could be used again, which showed that such energy absorb­ a layer thickness of 0.15 mm.
ers could be repaired economically. Guo et al. [31] proposed Figure 1(b) shows the schematic of tested specimens.
a honeycomb-filled gradient energy-absorbing structure. By Considering the effects of length-to-diameter ratio and
filling honeycombs with different mechanical properties diameter-to-thickness ratio on the failure mode of the speci­
between the diaphragms of energy absorber, the energy men, the type-A tube had external dimensions of
absorber could realize orderly and stable deformation. It was 32 � 32 mm and a height of 80 mm. The novel type-B tube
of great significance to the safety of train crashworthiness. took the traditional square thin-walled type-A tube as the
 MECHANICS OF ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURES 3

Figure 1. Schematic diagram of (a) principle of FDM technique; (b) dimensional parameters of thin-walled tubes; and (c) the quasi-static axial crushing test.

Figure 2. Force–displacement curves of the printed thin-walled tubes.

basic configuration framework and added pairs of dovetail vertically at a constant speed of 5 mm/min throughout the
grooves and protrusions for modular assembly. The specific compression process [45]. The final crushing displacement
parameters of the protrusion are shown in Figure 1(b), and was 2/3 of the original total height [46, 47]. The force–dis­
the groove could be assembled with the protrusion. For the placement curves were automatically recorded by the data
type-B tube, each tube was manufactured individually and acquisition system and the entire test process was captured
the specific parameters in panel configuration were held by a digital camera (5D mark IV, Canon, Tokyo, Japan).
constant. These tubes could be spliced together by the dove­
tail joints without glue. For simplicity, the type-A thin- 3. Results and discussion
walled tube made of thermoplastic polyurethanes was named
as TPU-A. By analogy, the other three specimens were 3.1. Results for single thin-walled tubes
denoted as TPU-B, PACF-A, and PACF-B, respectively. Figure 2 shows the force–displacement responses of the
printed thin-walled tubes. It was seen that the force
2.2. Experimental methods responses of PACF tubes were much higher than that of
TPU tubes under quasi-static compression. Take type-A
The quasi-static axial crushing tests were conducted at room tube as an example, the initial peak forces of PACF and
temperature using a universal material testing machine TPU thin-walled tubes were 3.032 and 0.319 kN, respect­
(MTS E44, Eden Prairie, MN, USA). As shown in Figure ively, which formed a difference of around one order of
1(c), the specimens were placed between two rigid plates magnitude. This indicated that rigid and flexible materials
parallel to each other. The top platen moved downward had distinct strength properties [48]. Despite the difference
4 K. WANG ET AL.

Figure 3. Crushing processes of the printed thin-walled tubes.

in materials, all curves could be divided into two stages with D ¼ 15 mm, two types of TPU tubes exhibited different
dashed lines in Figure 2: elastic stage and plastic stage. In trends in the crushing process. For the TPU-A, the first
the elastic stage, the force increased linearly and steadily for formed lobes were gradually compacted at the displacement
all tubes. The thin-walled tubes made of the same material of 15–20 mm. Subsequently, new buckles appeared in the
had almost the same slopes of force–displacement curves. remaining undamaged sections of the tubes, and then the
After exceeding the critical load, the forces fell off rapidly buckles gradually developed into lobes and were compacted
and different tubes exhibited different tendencies in the plas­ again, corresponding to the emergence of new peak and
tic stage. For the TPU specimens, after the descent and plat­ trough forces. This stable and repeatable deformation pro­
eau period, the force of TPU-A rose again and formed cess was called progressive collapse mode. This mode corre­
another peak. On the contrary, the force of TPU-B failed to sponded to force–displacement curves with a series of
recover and remained at a low level. At last, the force of regular peak and trough forces and represented a desired
both specimens rose sharply. For the PACF specimens, force energy absorption mode [49]. As for TPU-B tubes, they lost
loss and recovery appeared alternatively after the elastic stability and tilted to one side during the crushing process
stage, which resembled the compressive response of TPU-A. at around 15–50 mm displacement, accompanied by low
Figure 3 presents the crushing processes of the printed forces below 0.1 kN. This deformation progress was named
thin-walled tubes. For the TPU tubes, they had similar Euler’s buckling, regarded as an undesired collapse mode
deformation behavior during the early compression. nearly [50]. For PACF tubes, it was clear that their peak and
invisible buckles were formed over the entire length at each trough forces appeared alternatively with the formation of
side of the tube since the elastic region. After the initial lobes. Their failure modes were both progressive collapse
peak force, the buckles developed into sinusoidal waves and modes.
one of the half-waves collapsed into a lobe. When the first It was worth noting that although the failure modes of
trough force occurred, each specimen showed four distinct PACF-A and PACF-B tubes were both progressive collapse
lobes in one layer, and two opposite lobes moved outwards modes, there were different folding mechanisms in a folding
while the remaining two lobes moved inwards. From element due to their different structures. Figure 4 shows the
 MECHANICS OF ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURES 5

Figure 4. Schematic diagrams of two folding mechanisms of progressive collapse mode.

Figure 5. The side views of the compressed thin-walled tubes.

schematic diagrams of the two folding mechanisms. The col­ traveling hinges and energy was dissipated in the process
lapsing PACF-A tube contained two sorts of hinges, namely [53]. The horizontal plastic hinges formed at the ends and
horizontal stationary hinges (red line) and inclined traveling mid-height of a lobe. For the middle horizontal hinges, two
hinges (blue line) [51, 52]. In one layer, the inclined plastic hinges on the opposite lobes moved outwards and gradually
hinges originated from four corners, swept across the tube, shortened in length, while hinges on the remaining two
and finished at about 45� angle to the horizontal line. The lobes moved inwards and gradually elongated. The sections
membrane deformation was generated around the inclined above and below the horizontal hinges fold progressively
6 K. WANG ET AL.

Figure 6. Modular four-cell structures and their force–displacement curves.

like two flat plates, and the bending deformation dissipated modular multicell structure made of these two materials
energy. Subsequently, a similar deformed layer was formed would provide particular outcomes.
at p/2 to the above layer, and so on. It was clear that the
folding mechanism of the TPU-A tube was similar to that of
the PACF-A tube. For the PACF-B tube, due to the addition 3.2. Results for modular multicell structures
of grooves and protrusions, two thinner sides had lower As shown in Figure 6(a), the modular four-cell structures
stiffness while two thicker sides had higher stiffness. For the are spliced together by grooves and protrusions of the
thinner sides, the inclined hinges extended outward from thin-walled PACF-B and TPU-B cells. There are three con­
four corners, swept across the groove, and finally converged figurations, namely M-TPU, M-Mixed, and M-PACF. The
in the middle to form a vertical hinge. On the thicker sides, first letter “M” stands for modular structure. Figure 6(b)
the horizontal hinge at the middle of the lode extended gives the force–displacement responses of modular four-cell
completely to the thinner sides. Subsequently, similar structures. For M-PACF, the force response was similar to
deformed layers were formed at the same position as the that of PACF-B tube, exhibiting alternating peak and trough
previous layer. The energy was also dissipated by the bend­ forces. The high strength and high stiffness of PACF mater­
ing deformation and the membrane deformation. ial contributed to the high energy absorption of M-PACF.
Figure 5 presents the side views of the compressed thin- For M-TPU, although its force was undoubtedly lower than
walled tubes and the two materials show distinctly different M-PACF due to the introduction of TPU material, it dis­
characteristics. The tubes made of flexible TPU displayed played significantly lower peak crushing force and a more
excellent elasticity and toughness. Upon decompression, the stable plateau period compared to M-PACF. According to
TPU-A and TPU-B tubes resumed to the original dimen­ the literature, adding TPU material to energy absorbers
sions and the traces caused by the plastic deformation were could decrease the peak load during compression by absorb­
not obvious [54]. Although the strain during the compres­ ing energy via elastic deformation [57]. Low peak crushing
sive process was more than 50%, there were no visible force and stable plateau period were essential considerations
cracks and fractures. In contrast, there were many transverse for cushioning protection [58]. In general, the crushing force
cracks in the large deformation area of rigid PACF tubes, responses of three modular structures exhibited different lev­
especially around the horizontal hinges. The form of trans­ els with the variation of cell materials.
verse cracks was also attributed to the characteristics of 3D Figure 7 presents the crushing processes of modular four-
printing. Due to flat build orientation, the debonding cell structures. Combined with the previous analysis, the
between layers occurred easily when the specimens were failure modes of M-PACF and M-Mixed were progressive
compressed perpendicular to the layer deposition direction collapse modes. Each pair of peak and trough forces in the
[55, 56]. Moreover, many minor cracks arose at the junction force–displacement curves was associated with the formation
of the inclined traveling hinge and the groove edge of of a lobe. Symmetrical folds were developed progressively
PACF-B tubes. This was due to the stress concentration from one end of every cell. In one layer, one lobe moved
caused by sharp corners in the grooves, and the membrane outwards while one lobe of the adjacent cell moved inwards,
deformation along the inclined hinge caused the cracks in presenting a complementary state. It was worth noting that
the stress concentration part. the joint of the groove and protrusion had a significant con­
From the discussion above, it was clear that rigid PACF straining effect. For M-Mixed, the failure mode of the cell
showed higher compressive strength, while flexible TPU made of TPU was no longer Euler’s buckling but progressive
showed higher toughness and elasticity. Predictably, the collapse mode. This change occurred because the flexible
 MECHANICS OF ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURES 7

Figure 7. Crushing processes of modular four-cell structures.

Figure 8. (a) The specimen was cured at the second peak force; (b) longitudinal cut positions of M-Mixed specimen; (c) cut sections of M-Mixed specimen.

material had high elasticity and flexibility, and the rigid of the groove and protrusion did not play an adequate con­
PACF altered the deformation process of the flexible TPU. straining effect in M-TPU.
The failure mode of M-TPU was Euler’s buckling. With the To further explore the interaction mechanisms between
folding of the lobe, a long half-wavelength was observed. At spliced cells in the modular structure, the M-Mixed was
the displacement of around 20 mm, the cells separated from cured with epoxy resin at the second peak force, and then,
each other and the constraining effect decreased. Finally, the cut along the specified position as shown in Figure 8(a).
cells still tilted to one side respectively, which was similar to Figure 8(b) shows longitudinal cut sections of compressed
the case of TPU-B. This crushing process denoted the joint samples. As shown in Figure 8(c), it was obvious that the
8 K. WANG ET AL.

Figure 9. (a) Schematic diagram of two multicell structures; (b–e) comparison of crashworthiness indicators of two multicell structures; (f–g) the synergetic effect
of the modular structures.

ðd
outward lobes on the joint sides (red arrows) were squeezed
smaller and curlier than the freely bent ones, and the EA ¼ FðxÞdx (1)
0
deformation caused by the squeeze force consumed energy.
In the middle of the lobe, the groove and protrusion were where d is the displacement of axial crushing, and F(x) is
separated from each other and disengaged from the con­ the instantaneous crushing force.
straint state (blue dashed lines), which dissipated large The specific energy absorption (SEA) refers to the energy
amounts of energy. It could also be seen that most of the absorption capacity of the structure per unit mass, which is
region between the spliced cells was still restricted together, an important indicator to measure the crashworthiness per­
which indicated the constraining effect of the joints. In add­ formance:
ition to the interactions visible in the figure mentioned EA
SEA ¼ (2)
above, friction between the spliced surfaces was also an m
interaction behavior. Frictional resistance did negative work where m is the total mass of every specimen.
and converted mechanical energy to thermal energy. The peak crushing force (PCF) refers to the force
To quantitatively evaluate the energy absorption perform­ occurred at the first peak in the force–displacement curve.
ance of multicell structures, several crashworthiness indica­ The mean crushing force (MCF) is defined as the
tors were used [59]. The energy absorption (EA) is ratio of the energy absorption (EA) to the crushing displace­
determined by the integral of the force versus displacement: ment:
 MECHANICS OF ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURES 9

EA cells. Among all configurations, the splicing between PACF

MCF ¼ (3)
l cells was the tightest and the constraint was the strongest
The crush force efficiency (CFE) can be calculated by for the same actual size. Therefore, the Se and Sf values of
dividing the peak crushing force (PCF) by the mean crush­ M-PACF were the largest, reaching 31.71% and 34.92%,
ing force (MCF). The larger the value is, the better stability respectively. For M-TPU, although the smooth surface weak­
of the structure: ened the constraining effect of groove and protrusion and
Euler’s buckling still occurred during the crushing process,
MCF the restriction on lateral displacement improved energy
CFE ¼ � 100% (4)
PCF absorption. The Se and Sf values reached 8.14% and 10.92%,
To further characterize and compare the crashworthiness respectively. All the results demonstrated that the
of the multicell structures, discrete four-cell structures were modular intercellular interaction greatly improved the
adopted to be a control group and labeled as D-TPU, D- energy absorption capacity and loading uniformity. The
Mixed and D-PACF, as shown in Figure 9(a). For the dis­ modular structure showed great potential as a customized
crete four-cell structures, the crashworthiness data could be energy absorber.
derived mathematically from the test results of the PACF-B
and TPU-B tubes as the cells did not interact with each
4. Conclusions and prospects
other during compression.
Figure 9(b–e) shows the crashworthiness indicators of the In this study, a novel modular multicell structure was pro­
modular and discrete four-cell structures. It was clear that posed and realized by assembling square thin-walled cells
the crashworthiness of four-cell structures with different with dovetail grooves and protrusions. The crushing
configurations exhibited apparent different levels. For behaviors and mechanisms of single thin-walled tubes and
example, the SEA of M-TPU, M-Mixed, and M-PACF struc­ modular multicell structures with different materials under
tures reached three levels of 0.32 J/g, 2.15 J/g, and 4.68 J/g, quasi-static compression were explored. Based on the experi­
respectively. For modular structures, the energy absorption mental results, the main conclusions were as follows:
performance was better than discrete structures. The EA,
SEA, and CFE values of modular structures were higher 1. The mechanical properties of single thin-walled tubes
than those of discrete structures, and the PCF value of made of PACF and TPU were significantly different.
modular structures was slightly lower than that of discrete The printed tube made of rigid PACF showed high
structures. This indicated that the interactions between strength. The initial peak force of PACF tube was an
spliced cells provided a significant improvement in crash­ order of magnitude higher than that of TPU tube. The
worthiness. To evaluate the synergetic effect of the modular printed tube made of flexible TPU showed high elasti­
structures, synergy ratios were defined as follows [60]: city. The TPU tubes could return to near original
SEAm − SEAd shapes after the compression to 2/3 of their original
Se ¼ � 100% (5) height;
SEAd
2. Due to the high elasticity and flexibility of TPU, the
CFEm − CFEd deformation of TPU cells was determined by the behav­
Sf ¼ � 100% (6) ior of PACF cells in M-Mixed structure. The assembled
CFEd
structure exhibited progressive collapse mode during
where the subscript m stands for the modular structures and the compression process instead of Euler’s buckling for
the subscript d stands for the discrete structures. The higher single TPU cells;
the synergy ratios are, the greater enhancement of the crash­ 3. Due to the difference in the strength of the two materi­
worthiness by the interactions. als, the energy absorption performance of modular
Figure 9(f–g) shows the synergy ratios of four-cell struc­ four-cell structures could be designed. For example,
tures. In view of the results, the synergy ratios of modular with the variation of the cell materials, the SEA of M-
four-cell structures increased with the increase in the num­ TPU, M-Mixed and M-PACF structures reached three
ber of PACF-B cells. This was because material properties levels of 0.32 J/g, 2.15 J/g, and 4.68 J/g, respectively;
affected the interactions between spliced sides. According to 4. The interactions between spliced cells in the modular
the analysis in Figure 8, the mutual squeeze of the lobes, the structures significantly improved the crashworthiness
confrontation with the constrained state, and friction compared to the discrete structures. The synergy ratios
between the spliced sides were the main interactions were introduced to evaluate the effect of synergistic
between modular cells. According to the analysis in energy enhancement caused by the interactions between
Subsection 3.1, rigid PACF showed higher strength and flex­ spliced cells, which increased with the increase in the
ible TPU showed higher elasticity and flexibility. Therefore, number of PACF-B cells. The Se and Sf values of M-
it took more energy to compress the lobe of PACF than the PACF were the largest, reaching 31.71% and 34.92%,
lobe of TPU. Moreover, the FDM products made of TPU respectively.
had a smooth surface. For PACF, the addition of short car­
bon fiber led to a rough surface. Therefore, the friction coef­ The present work mainly focused on proposing a novel
ficient of the surfaces of PACF cells was larger than TPU modular multicell structure and primarily verifying its
10 K. WANG ET AL.

feasibility as a customized energy absorber through experi­ [11] X. Wang, R. Qin, and B. Chen, Crashworthiness reinforcements
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oblique dynamic loads, Lat. Am. J. Solids Struct., vol. 15, no. 5,
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
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