A comparative crashworthiness analysis of multi-cell polygonal tubes under axial and oblique loads

Abstract

In order to investigate the energy absorption characteristics of multi-cell polygonal tubes with different cross-sectional configurations, firstly, the theoretical formulae of the mean crushing force under axial load for four multi-cell polygonal tubes were derived by combining the Super Folding Element theory with Zhang’s research results. These formulae can be used to validate the numerical model and quickly evaluate the energy absorption ability of multi-cell polygonal tubes. Furthermore, a comparative study on the energy absorption performance of eight multi-cell polygonal tubes under axial and oblique loads was conducted. The results show that all tubes have a stable mixed deformation mode under axial load. The multi-cell decagon tube has better energy-absorption ability compared with other tubes. When θ is less than 10°, all the tubes maintain a stable deformation mode, and the multi-cell decagon tube also has the biggest crushing force efficiency and specific energy absorption among these eight tubes; meanwhile compared with the results at θ=0°, the specific energy absorption of all tubes decreases by about 8%–21%, while the crushing force efficiency increases by 20%–56%. However, at large angles 20° and 30°, all of the tubes collapse in bending modes and lose their effectiveness at energy absorption.