Investigation of lateral crushing behaviors of hierarchical quadrangular thin-walled tubular structures. (April 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Luo, Yonghao; Fan, Hualin
• Is Part Of: Thin-walled structures. Volume 125(2018)
• Page Start: 100
• Page End: 106
• Publication Date: 2018-04
• Subjects: Hierarchical tubular structure -- Energy absorption -- Folding style -- Mean crushing force -- Theoretical prediction; Thin-walled structures -- Periodicals; 690.1
• DOI: 10.1016/j.tws.2018.01.016
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0263-8231

Abstract

Abstract: Energy absorbing efficiency of thin-walled tubular structures is restricted by the folding of the ultra-thin walls, depressing the mean crushing force (MCF) of the tubular structure. Hierarchical topology increases the energy absorbing ability of tubular structure notably without increasing the weight. In an effort to reveal this advantage, hierarchical quadrangular tubes (HQTs) are proposed in this paper. These proposed structures have multi-cellular structure and sandwich cellular walls. During the crushing, two deformation stages, including crushing of the side walls and compression of the short vertical ribs in the horizontal sandwich walls, were observed in the experiments. The latter greatly increases the MCF of thin-walled quadrangular tubes (TQTs). Based on three typical folding elements and two energy absorbing mechanisms, the MCF can be consistently predicted. According to the research, extraordinary energy absorption can be achieved through hierarchical topology design. Highlights: Hierarchical topology improves lateral crushing ability of quadrangular tubes. The second stage of the plastic deformation greatly improves the energy absorption. A plastic model based on three elements and two energy absorbing styles is proposed.