Low velocity axial impact crushing performance of empty recyclable metal beverage cans

This paper focuses on the axial impact crushing behaviour of recyclable empty metal beverage cans available in the market. The idea is to make a macro foam (sacrificial cladding structure) out of these cans to protect the main load bearing members of civil engineering structures from the air blast load. Axial drop weight tests have been conducted to understand the crushing characteristics and the corresponding energy absorption of a single empty beverage can in detail. To conduct such tests a small-scale drop weight test set-up has been designed and manufactured. The deformation mechanisms and the corresponding energy absorption of the beverage cans were studied in detail for different initial impact velocities (1.4 m/s, 2.2 m/s, 3.1 m/s, 3.8 m/s, 4.4 m/s and 4.9 m/s). Furthermore, an analytical model is proposed to calculate the crushing parameters of empty metal beverage cans. The results from the analytical model are compared and validated with the experimental results.