Experimental and finite element simulation investigation of axial crushing of grooved thin-walled tubes

Abstract

Application of impact energy absorption systems in different industries especially in automotive industries as a solution to minimize the effect of impact onto the travelers and increasing car safety is especially significant. In order to increase the car security in accidents and incidents of cars, several efforts have been done by corporations. For this purpose, different energy absorption systems have been utilized. From all of them, thin-walled tubes due to lightness, high value of energy absorption capacity, long crushing length, and high ratio of energy absorption into weight have everincreasing application as one of the effective energy absorption systems. In this research, by carrying out experiments and finite element simulations, crushing manner, energy absorption value, mean crushing load, and initial buckling load of grooved thin-walled tubes with different geometric dimensions have been investigated and compared. Simulation of tested specimens has been executed in three-dimensional model by explicit method. Experimental and simulation results have a correlation. Results demonstrate that crushing manner and absorbed energy value in axial crushing of grooved thin-walled tubes could be controlled by introducing different groove distances.

Multiple objective crashworthiness optimization of circular tubes with functionally graded thickness via artificial neural networks and genetic algorithms

“…However, carrying out all these simulations via FE modeling is prohibitive as it requires extensive computational effort and time. 54 Complexity of FE modeling for predicting behavior of mechanical structures is well known. 55–57 Therefore, in the present work, ANNs are used to reproduce crashworthiness parameters of circular tubes under axial crushing.…”

Numerical crushing analysis of aluminum foam-filled corrugated single- and double-circular tubes subjected to axial impact loading

“…In last decades, to improve the crashworthiness of thin-walled tubes, several modification methods have been developed and proposed. Among those, filling tubes with different cellular materials or structures including metallic foams [4][5][6][7][8][9][10], synthetic foams [11][12][13][14][15], natural cellular materials [16] and honeycombs [17], multi-tube usage [17][18][19][20][21][22] and generating corrugated/grooved surfaces on the tubes [13,[23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30] were found to be very effective to increase energy absorption capacity and structure safety.…”

An investigation into finite similitude for high-rate loading processes: Advantages in comparison to dimensional analysis and its practical implementation

“…In particular, thin-walled tubes due to their lightness, high energy absorption capacity, long crushing length and high energy absorption to weight ratio, are one of the most important energy absorption systems, especially in automotive industries [17][18]. Thin-walled tubes are used in automotive industries as a solution to minimize the effect of impact on vehicle occupants and for the purpose of increased car safety [17]. The special significance of thin-walled tubes in protection of transportation systems has for the past two decades made their impact behaviour an important research area [17][18][19][20][21].…”

“…Thin-walled tubes are used in automotive industries as a solution to minimize the effect of impact on vehicle occupants and for the purpose of increased car safety [17]. The special significance of thin-walled tubes in protection of transportation systems has for the past two decades made their impact behaviour an important research area [17][18][19][20][21]. Another reason for their consideration here is the involvement of various deformation mechanisms including highly nonlinear plasticity and strain rate effects associated with high loading rate impact [17][18][19][20][21].…”

“…The special significance of thin-walled tubes in protection of transportation systems has for the past two decades made their impact behaviour an important research area [17][18][19][20][21]. Another reason for their consideration here is the involvement of various deformation mechanisms including highly nonlinear plasticity and strain rate effects associated with high loading rate impact [17][18][19][20][21]. These considerations make tubes a particularly good candidate for examining the practicality of the proposed scaling method.…”