Abstract: Drop hammer tests are carried out to study the axial crash behaviour of the aluminium foam-filled hat sections. First, the axial crash tests of the empty hat sections, aluminium foam and the aluminium foam-filled hat sections are carried out; then, based upon the test results, the axial crash behaviour of the aluminum foam-filled hat sections are analyzed. It is found that, aluminum foam filling can increase the energy absorption capa- cities of the hat sections. Compared with the non-filled structu- res, aluminium foam-filled structures are much more stable and need less mass to absorb the specified energy.

Key words: Aluminium foam, Hat section Crashworthiness, Strain rate, aerodynamic drag, genetic algorithm, high-speed train, multi-objective optimization, surface sound power