Energy absorption of arched thin-walled structures under transverse loading

Abstract

Thin-walled beams are more frequently subjected to transverse or oblique loads instead of axial loads in real crash accidents. However, the energy absorption capacity of them under transverse loading is very much lower than that under axial loading. When subjected to transverse loads, arched structures tend to switch the transverse forces to axial forces, and are very promising to significantly improve the energy absorption and crashworthiness performance of structures. The present work is aimed at exploring the energy absorption characteristics of arched thin-walled structures under transverse loading. The static and dynamic three-point bending tests are first carried out for arched and straight thin-walled beams with a circular section. The force responses and deformation of the specimens are analyzed and compared. Numerical analyses are then performed to simulate the experiments, and the results are compared with experiments. The influences of various factors on the responses of arched structures are investigated numerically. To explore the optimal profile of arched thin-walled structures under transverse loading, a crashworthiness optimization problem is solved, and the optimal design shows excellent performances. Finally, partial foam filling is attempted to further improve the performances of the optimal design.