Thin-walled box-shaped tubes, which feature good energy absorption and have a wide range of applications, can be flexibly combined with various buffer materials to form a combined energy consumption structure; However, in view of the complexity of the buffer forms when subjected to axial compression, there is still much room for intensive study in the calculation of the folding method, energy consumption and average force of the tube body during axial crushing. Based on the folding mode and spatial buckling behavior theory of box-shaped tube under axial compression, it not only sorts out the literature on the establishment and improvement process of super-folding theory, but also makes a comparison and analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of the classical method in the calculation of critical buckling force of box-shaped tubes. Moreover, it gives an overview on the common application methods of tube engineering and theoretical progress in terms of the application of box-shaped tubes, as well as makes a summary of the prospect and improvement of box section tube application in civil engineering at the end in this paper.