Lateral plastic behaviour of rectangular sandwich tubes considering local denting

Abstract

In this paper, the theoretical and numerical research on large deflection of slender metallic foam-filled rectangular sandwich tubes loaded quasi-statically at midspan considering local denting is presented. The yield surface equation of the dented sandwich cross-section is derived. An analytical solution of the plastic behaviour of the fully clamped metallic foam-filled rectangular sandwich tube is proposed considering local denting. The finite element (FE) simulation is conducted and numerical results agree well with analytical ones. Based on the analytical model, influences of punch width as well as other geometrical and material parameters on quasi-static load-carrying capacity and energy absorption are discussed. It is demonstrated that the load of the punch and absorbed energy of the sandwich tube both become larger with the increase of punch width, the increase of metallic foam strength and the decrease of the ratio of metallic foam thickness to wall thickness.