Crashworthiness analysis of perforated metal/composite thin‐walled structures under axial and oblique loading

Abstract

AbstractAs a kind of lightweight structure with great economic benefits, metal/composite hybrid structure is raising rapidly among automobile safety components due to its excellent anti‐collision performance. In this paper, a new design was developed by introducing an induced circular hole to improve the energy absorption performance of the AL/CFRP hybrid thin‐walled tubes under different loading conditions. Quasi‐static experiments and finite element simulation were carried out on the hybrid tubular sample with induced circular holes, and the crash resistance of the number and diameter of induced round holes under different loading angles (θ) of 0°,10°, 20°, and 30° was analyzed through the verified finite element model. The results showed that the induction hole can effectively reduce the peak load and improve the energy absorption characteristics of the hybrid thin‐walled tube under the axial (0°) load. Under the inclined load, the energy absorption capacity of all samples decreased to different degrees with increasing loading angle, and the induced hole changed the deformation mode of the hybrid tube, especially under the 30° loading angle. The complex proportional assessment is then implemented on the optimal structures, and specific energy absorption, peak crush force, and crush force efficiency were selected as the objective functions to improve the overall impact resistance under different loading angles. Considering three design cases, the AL/CFRP hybrid thin‐walled structure with three groups of induced holes are finally found as the best energy absorbing devices. The work in this paper can provide a guide for the design of advanced energy absorbing devices for arbitrary loading condition.