Parameters Optimization and Energy Absorption Evaluation of the Steel Ball Friction Energy Absorber

Abstract

The energy absorber is used to simulate the reaction of a working piece subjected to a vibration stimulus, by which the consistent and repeatable reactions to the tool’s vibration inputs could be achieved. According to the proposed coupling simulation model by using commercial software RecurDyn and EDEM, the energy dissipated by the energy absorber and the contact force between the drill rod and the piston are evaluated under different load conditions such as the impact frequency and impact stroke. Moreover, the effects of the ball diameter, ball column height, and diameter on the energy absorption characteristics are also studied. The results show that the impact frequency and stroke influence the energy absorber by changing the impact force; the energy absorption is more obvious under higher impact frequency and long impact stroke. The filling ball diameter influences the energy reflectivity by changing the porosity, which is negatively correlated to the energy reflectivity, and a 6 mm filling ball diameter is suggested. The energy reflectivity is inversely proportional to the ball column height and diameter, and the suggested ball column diameter and height are 160 mm and 600 mm, respectively, with energy reflectivity of 0.045. Even when the increase in impact frequency and stroke will increase the contact force, the dynamic load factor decreases. The contact force and dynamic load factor are inversely proportional to the ball column height, but they are not influenced by the ball diameter and the ball column diameter.