Energy absorption characteristics of thin-walled tube filled with liquid suspension of hollow glass microspheres under axial crushing

Abstract

The deviation between the high initial peak force and low mean crushing force of thin-walled tubes has significantly limited its energy absorption efficiency. To tackle this challenge, a liquid suspension of hollow glass microsphere (SHGM) is employed as a new type of filling material. The axial crushing behavior of SHGM-filled tubes is evaluated by a series of quasi-static compression and dynamic drop weight impact tests. Results show that the specific energy absorption of the composite tube is increased more than 40 %. The energy absorption efficiency of SHGM-filled tube is increased to 0.65–0.70 compared to that of empty tube (0.37–0.43). This promoted energy absorption performance of the composite tube is due to the much-enhanced SHGM liquid filler-tube wall interaction, which is validated from the increased strengthening coefficient of 4.0. This enhanced filler-tube wall interaction is visualized by using 3D digital image correlation technique. These results demonstrate that the SHGM is a superior filling material for thin-walled structures and facilitate the design of next generation lightweight composite structures for energy absorption purposes.