Crashworthy Performance of Sustainable Filled Structures Using Recycled Beverage Cans and Eco-Friendly Multi-Cell...

The recycling of resources is an important measure to achieve circular economy and sustainable development. In this paper, a sustainable filled structure was proposed and realized by combining recycled empty beverage cans with eco-friendly multi-cell fillers. Quasi-static axial compressions were carried out to characterize the energy absorption performance and synergistic effect of the filled tubes. Experimental results showed that the crashworthiness of sustainable filled structures varied with both filling densities and materials. With the increase in filling density, the specific energy absorption of the filled tubes presented an upward trend. With the variation in filling materials, the filled tubes exhibited different crashworthiness performances. The PLA multi-cell filled tube could withstand larger external force and exhibited higher SEA values, with a maximum value of 9.64 J/g. The PLAS multi-cell filled tube showed excellent loading stability and lower ULC value, with a minimum value of 10%. These findings provided valuable insights for designing novel sustainable energy absorption structures.