Crashworthiness design of horsetail-bionic thin-walled structures under axial dynamic loading

Abstract

Bio-inspired engineering design has drawn increased attention in recent years for the excellent structural and mechanical properties of the biological systems. In this study, the horsetail-bionic thin-walled structures (HBTSs) were investigated for their crashworthiness under axial dynamic loading. Six HBTSs with different cross section configurations (i.e., number of cells) were evaluated using nonlinear finite element (FE) simulations. To obtain the optimal design of the HBTSs, an ensemble metamodel-based multi-objective optimization method was employed to maximize the specific energy absorption while minimizing maximum impact force of the HBTSs. Using the ensemble metamodeling, FE simulations and the NSGA-II algorithm, the Pareto optimum designs of all six HBTSs were obtained and the HBTS with 16 cells were found to have the best crashworthiness. An optimum design of the HBTS with 16 cells was verified using FE simulation and found to have good agreement with simulation results.

High energy absorption efficiency of thin-walled conical corrugation tubes mimicking coconut tree configuration

“…Moreover, it is noted that the dash lines in Figs. [8][9][10][11] show the mean forces that are obtained from the theoretical analysis in section 5. circular tube has the same diameter, D = 50 mm, and the same length, L = 135 mm, as the CCTs. Meanwhile, the top diameter, length, and tapered angle of the circular tapered tube are 50 mm, 135 mm and 10 o , respectively.…”

“…Researchers observed that the number of corners in the cross-section of a column decides the efficiency of the energy absorption, and the angle between neighbouring flanges should be 90-120° for the highest crushing energy absorption efficiency [5]. Therefore, many studies have been conducted on the multi-corner thin-walled structures [8][9][10][11][12][13][14]. In order to increase the EA capacity of thinwalled structures, structures with multi-cells of different configurations [8][9][10][11], functionally graded thickness [12], and foam-filled section [13][14][15][16] were studied.…”

“…Therefore, many studies have been conducted on the multi-corner thin-walled structures [8][9][10][11][12][13][14]. In order to increase the EA capacity of thinwalled structures, structures with multi-cells of different configurations [8][9][10][11], functionally graded thickness [12], and foam-filled section [13][14][15][16] were studied. The introduction of the foam to the thin-walled structures enhanced the EA capacity because the foam filling prevents the inward fold formations, thereby leading to a large plastic membrane deformation and increasing the energy dissipation.…”

Impact resistance and energy absorption ability of bio-mimetic thin-walled structures with hollow columns under impact loading

“…The investigation of irregular geometry and fiber layer microstructure of the beetle elytra revealed that the mechanical structure toughened at critical strains and the bio-mimetic structure can be applied in developing impact-resistant materials for joining different materials. 32,33 The internal structure of horsetail possesses hollow thin-walled configurations with good mechanical properties, 34,35 as shown in Figure 1. Yin et al 34 proposed a novel energy-absorbing structure inspired by horsetails and numerical investigated the mechanical properties and characteristics by means of a nonlinear finite-element method.…”

RSM and ANN modeling of the energy absorption behavior of steel thin-walled columns: a multi-objective optimization using the genetic algorithm

“…For this purpose, one of the best options is using energy absorbers. So far, structures have been analyzed by different materials like energy absorption that in most of them, two factors decrease in capital and keep occupants alive [1][2][3][4].…”