Design of dimpled tubular structures for energy absorption. (March 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Yang, Kai; Xu, Shanqing; Zhou, Shiwei; Shen, Jianhu; Xie, Yi Min
• Is Part Of: Thin-walled structures. Volume 112(2017)
• Page Start: 31
• Page End: 40
• Publication Date: 2017-03
• Subjects: Tubular structure -- Circular tube -- Compression -- Energy absorption; Thin-walled structures -- Periodicals; 690.1
• DOI: 10.1016/j.tws.2016.12.003
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0263-8231

Abstract

Abstract: In this study a novel type of tubular structure was proposed, in which predesigned ellipsoidal dimples were introduced into conventional circular tubes. The influence of various design parameters of the dimples on the mechanical properties was extensively investigated by finite element modelling and was experimentally validated by quasi-static tests on 3D printed brass tubes. The results showed that properly designed dimpled tubes had substantially lower initial peak force and remarkably less fluctuation in the crushing force than circular tubes, without significantly sacrificing the mean crushing force. Highlights: Ellipsoidal dimples were introduced to circular tubes to improve crushing response. 3D printed brass tubes were tested to validate numerical simulations. New tube reduced the initial peak force and fluctuation while kept the plateau force.