Numerical Analysis of Metallic Hollow Sphere Structures

The paper presents a computational study of adhesively bonded metallic hollow sphere structures fully embedded within an adhesive matrix. Their behaviour under compressive dynamic loading was evaluated by means of dynamic computational simulations, where the influence of topology (simple cubic, body centred cubic and face centred cubic arrangement) and gaseous pore filler was studied. The behaviour of analyzed structures was evaluated with use of the representative volume element accounting for the strain rate sensitivity. The computational results show a characteristic porous material response. The initial linear-elastic response is followed by a short transition zone, then followed by a stress plateau. At high strains, the inner surfaces of the spherical shell touch and the stress level increases rapidly. The topology considerably influences the deformation mechanism of the hollow sphere structures, where the simple cubic structure orientation exhibits the highest stiffness. From the computational results it can be observed that the influence of the internal pore pressure is negligible through the deformation of the metallic hollow sphere structures.