Effect of the web, face sides and arc’s dimensions on the open top-hat structure performance subjected to a flexural static loading

Abstract

This paper presents the study of the open-top hat structure subjected to quasi-static loading. The finite element models have been carried out using the nonlinear finite element ABAQUS. The open-top hat structure is mainly used as an energy absorber or as a B-pillar in the side of the car. The B-pillar is usually subjected to a flexural (bending) loading. In this study, the open-top hat structure was used to eliminate the effect of the closure plate on the performance, and to establish the effect of changing the dimensions of the face and web sides on the performance. Despite changing the dimensions of the face and web sides, the perimeter of the open-top hat structure was preserved. The study procedure is divided into three phases. The first phase includes changing the length of the sides of the structure to determine the best dimensions in terms of energy absorption (EA) and the maximum peak force and hence the bending resistance of the structure that represents the higher performance of the structure. The second phase uses different angles between the face side and the web side to determine the effect of angle on the structure performance. The third phase includes changing the top and bottom arc sizes with different values to verify their effect on the structure crashworthiness performance. The results of the first and second phases have shown that the T2 design with a side angle of 94 has an outstanding crashworthiness performance and therefore was the selected to be further enhanced in the third phase. The third phase uses a wide range of the top and bottom arc dimensions to optimise the performance of the structure further. The design R1212 has shown the best performance. It has 14.5% more energy absorption, and 18.8% higher mean load when compared to T2-94.