Composite Beam Tests with Closed Cell Polyurethane and Aluminum Foam

The frames of many commercial vehicles are composed of rectangular tubular steel and are a significant portion of the gross vehicle weight. The introduction of a composite frame would potentially reduce weight and increase structural properties. We compare a baseline frame section to new composite sections injected with two different types of foam: a polyurethane and aluminum foam. The objective was to increase the overall strength and stiffness, while leaving the overall weight of the frame unchanged or reduced by reducing the plate thickness of the tubular steel. Sections of rectangular tubular steel are tested individually with and without the inclusion of aluminum and closed cell polyurethane foam. The potential advantages include light weighting vehicles, increasing strength and durability, improving ride through a more ridged/stiffer un-sprung mass, and the ability to make quick structural repairs of a compromised vehicle frame. The study revealed that injecting of polyurethane foam produced increase in strength while the aluminum foam did not increase the strength.