Energy absorption of axially compressed thin-walled square tubes with patterns

Journal article

The paper suggests the introduction of patterns to the surface of conventional thin-walled square tubes to improve the energy absorption capacity under axial compressive loads. A quasi-static axial crushing analysis has been conducted numerically by the nonlinear explicit finite element code LS-DYNA. Two types of patterns constructed using the basic pyramid elements were introduced. Type A pattern was aimed at triggering the extensional mode for relatively thin square tubes whereas type B pattern was intended to develop new collapse mode capable of absorbing more energy during collapse. A total of 30 tubes with a length of 120 mm, thickness 1.2 mm and widths of 40 or 60 mm were simulated. Numerical results showed that all tubes with type A patterns developed the extensional collapse mode instead of the symmetric collapse mode and absorbed about 15-32.5% more energy than conventional thin-walled square tubes with a mass increase less than 5%. Meanwhile, a new collapse mode named octagonal collapse mode was observed for tubes with type B pattern and the energy absorption of tubes developing this mode increased by 54-93% compared with the conventional tube. The influence of various configurations of the patterns on the deformation and energy absorption of the tubes was also discussed. The paper opens up a new avenue in design of high energy absorption components. © 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Authors: Zhang, X; Cheng, G; You, Z; Zhang, H

• Publication status: Published
• Journal: THIN-WALLED STRUCTURES
• Volume: 45
• Issue: 9
• Pages: 737-746
• Publication date: 2007-09-01
• DOI: 10.1016/j.tws.2007.06.004
• ISSN: 0263-8231
• Language: English
• Keywords: energy absorption; numerical simulation; axial crushing; collapse mode