Design and testing of a DNA-like torsional structure for energy absorption
Suian Wang, Chuang Deng, Olanrewaju Ojo, Nan Yang, Bamidele Akinrinlola, Jared Kozub, Nan Wu
Abstract
A torsional structure with a DNA-like chiral core is proposed and investigated for energy absorption with a frictional mechanism. The DNA-like chiral core can generate a twisting deformation under axial loading. Based on this behavior, the proposed torsional structure exhibits a unique energy absorption capacity by structural collapse and torsion-induced friction. Additive manufacturing is used to prepare five sets of metal specimens with the new DNA-like chiral core structure. A series of quasi-static compression experiments are carried out to obtain the compressive stress–strain relationship and induced twisting angle of our designed structure. The experimental results show distinct energy absorption mechanism and effectiveness of the design which are subsequently used to validate the finite element simulation. The results of the experiment and numerical analysis show that the torsional friction between the top cap of the structure and the outer block can absorb around 10% of the total compression energy input. Furthermore, geometry parametric studies are conducted to investigate the effects of design parameters on energy absorption property of the proposed structure.