Experimental and numerical investigations on collapse properties of capped-end frusta tubes with circular triggers under axial quasi-static loading

Abstract

In this paper, collapse properties of the capped-end cone tubes made from steel alloy 430 with circular holes under quasi-static axial loading have been studied experimentally and numerically. Simulations were performed using finite element LS-Dyna software and 11 types of cone with various number of holes (3, 4 and 5) and heights (20,40 and 60 mm relative to bottom base of cone) in four different thicknesses (0.2, 0.4, 0.6 and 1 mm), so, 44 different states were totally simulated and the collapse properties of them were extracted. The samples with the thickness of 0.2 mm were tested on an experimental basis in order to ensure the accuracy of the simulation results. Comparing the obtained results indicates good agreement between the experimental and numerical data. According to the obtained results, it was found that open end absorbers are more efficient compared to similar capped-end structures. Also, it was revealed that creating holes in the capped-end cone decreases the maximum force and increases crush force efficiency. In addition, it was found that creating hole farther away from the underlying base is more effective for improving the collapse properties. In the final section, the effects of thickness on the collapse properties were evaluated. The obtained results in this study can be a good guidance for investigation on the effect of discontinuity on collapse properties.