Calculation of the initial peak loads on thin-walled circular tubes with internal and external staggered grooves under low-velocity impacts

Abstract

Thin-walled cylindrical tube structures with particular defects exhibit more stable energy absorption characteristics and lower initial peak loads when subjected to axial impact. The present study systematically investigates the effect of the depth, width, and number of grooves in both internal and external groove structures on the energy absorption characteristics of thin-walled cylindrical tubes made of A6061 under axial impact loading. An expression for predicting the initial peak load is formulated, and its validity is confirmed through experimentation and extrapolation. The results indicate that augmenting the depth, width and quantity of grooves can lower the initial peak load, and the depth of grooves bears the most pronounced impact. The initial load hypothesis is congruent with both experiments and simulations, with a initial peak error of just -7.64%. To affirm the generality of the theoretical computations, eight distinct groups of elongated structural simulations were compared, and the initial peak load's error was scarcely above 10%. This study serves as a point of reference for designing energy-absorbing structures with internal and external grooves when subjected to low-velocity axial impact.