Blast impact on the density-based tri-layered polyurethane foam

Abstract

Cellular solids are interesting materials for blast energy absorption because of their high porosity, cell structure, and unique mechanical properties. Also, it will undergo graded compression over the same foam density. Hence, in this study, an experimental investigation of blast pressure impact on the trilayered sequences made of three different polyurethane (PU) foam densities of equal thickness, such as D1-29.201 kg/m${}^3$, D2-59.692 kg/m${}^3$, and D3-107.720 kg/m${}^3$ is carried out. The force transmitted $\left(F_T\right)$ on the reaction plate and incident force on the blast impact face are recorded. The maximum force amplification $\left(F_{amp}\right)$ of the 63.79% was observed in the S5 and the minimum of 6.19% in S4. Thus the reduction in $F_{amp}$ in S4 compared to S5 is 90.3%. Similarly, the energy absorbed $\left(E_{abs}\right)$ by the trilayer is a maximum of 24.80 J in S2 and a minimum of 3.60 J in S3. The $E_{abs}$ increased to 85.48% in S2 solely by altering the layer sequences in S3. Hence, the location of the density in the layer sequences plays a key role in effective blast mitigation on different response measures.