STUDY OF SANDWICH SHELLS WITH METALLIC FOAM CORES

Traffic-related accidents are a major threat to life in the European Union. In spite of the significant improvements in vehicle safety over the past 25 years, the current number of deaths (42000) and injuries (1.6E6), plus all the associated social and economic costs, remain unacceptable. It is generally considered that these numbers are an unacceptable high burden for Europe's society and economy. World-wide vehicles safety experts agree that significant further reductions in fatalities and injuries can be achieved as a result of, for instance and among other factors, the use of new energy absorbing materials. In this field, passive safety systems still have great potential to reduce fatalities and injuries, as in the case of using new lightweight energy-absorbing materials. From the environmental view, the use of materials optimized in terms of greater absorption of energy by impact, in the weight, has a direct impact on thermal efficiency of engines, from the standpoint of a higher yield of fuel and emits less greenhouse gases. Metal foams can provide high resistance ratios and stiffness in relation to its mass or weight. These high specific structural properties make the metal foams highly attractive from the point of view of structural applications "ultra-light" [1, 2].