Crushing Behaviour of Hexagonal Thin-Walled Tube with Partition Plates (2nd Report, Analysis of Compressive Stress)

Abstract

In this paper, the crushing behaviour of a hexagonal thin-walled tube with partition plates subjected to axial compression is studied by using finite element method. It is found that the initial peak stress mainly depends on the thickness of the thicker one in partition plates and the side walls and that the average stress in the crushing process increases with the thickness of the partition plates or side walls. However, the effect of the partition plates on the average stress is greater than that of the side walls. The effect of the partition plates on the fluctuation in the compressive stress is also investigated, and it is found that there exists an appropriate set of the thickness of the partition plates and the side walls for which the fluctuation in the compressive stress is negligible. Further, an approximation prediction of the average stress for the hexagonal thin-walled tube with partition plates is proposed.