DOI: 10.7763/IJCTE.2014.V6.876
Numerical Simulation of Quasi-Static Compression Behavior of the Toe Cap Component for Safety Footwear
Abstract—Geometrical changes can improve stiffness
substantially. The project S3 – Safety Slim Shoe presents the
potential to reduce the weight in safety toe cap components
combining a new geometric redesign deeply associated to local
stiffeners to realize the full potential of AHSS – Advanced High
Strength Steels. The investigation aimed to examine the
potential energy absorption capacity for a substantial thickness
reduction of slim toe cap models. In this paper the normative
quasi-static compression test in the context of the experimental
validation of the two last and approved prototype models were
focused. A non-linear FEA - Finite Element Analysis of the
elasto-plastic deformation mode was performed, and several
numerical parameters such as: hardening effects of
extrapolated True-Stress-Strain material curves and simulation
convergence conditions were carried out. Experimental results
of the toe cap deformation behavior confront a weight saving
range of over 40%, compared with the original steel toe cap.
Index Terms—AHSS, FEA, local stiffening, toe cap.
The authors are with the Centre for Mechanical and Materials
Technologies – CT2M, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University
of Minho, 4800 – 058, Guimarães, Portugal (e-mail: {sergio.costa, jpmas,
peixinho}@dem.uminho.pt).
Cite:Sérgio L. Costa, João P. Mendonça, and Nuno Peixinho, "Numerical Simulation of Quasi-Static Compression Behavior of the Toe Cap Component for Safety Footwear," International Journal of Computer Theory and Engineering vol. 6, no. 4, pp. 285-291, 2014.