On the energy absorption of tube reinforced foam materials under quasi-static and dynamic compression

• A theoretical model is proposed to analyse the energy absorption of reinforced foam.
• The contribution of the reinforcement to the total mean compressive force is obtained.
• Parametric analysis is carried out to estimate the tube-reinforcement efficiency.
• Dynamic effects on the energy absorption are discussed by using FE simulations.

Theoretical and numerical analyses are carried out to reveal the role of metal tube reinforcement in the enhancement of the energy absorption capacity of foam materials with different densities and strength. A theoretical model is proposed to estimate the strength increase of the reinforcement due to the confined tube, which buckles. Using this model, the contribution of the reinforcement is obtained to the mean quasi-static tube force and also to the total quasi-static average force of reinforced materials comprising different foam and reinforcing components. The proposed model is also used to estimate the efficiency of the reinforced foam materials in the quasi-static loading regime.FE simulations are carried out to verify the theoretical quasi-static model and to examine some essential dynamic effects due to the inertia of the foam and reinforcing tubes on the energy absorption of the material when subjected to impact loading. Attention is paid to the force enhancement at the impacted end and to the dynamic load transfer to the distal end of blocks of reinforced materials.