Multi-objective optimization of thin-walled sandwich tubes with lateral corrugated tubes in the middle for energy absorption

Abstract

Thin-walled structures are widely used in energy absorbing devices attributed to their light weight and excellent energy absorption efficiency. In this paper, an innovative sandwich sinusoidal lateral corrugated tubes (SSLCTs) was proposed. It consists of the outer circular tubes (OCTs), the inner circular tubes (ICTs) and a new type of lateral corrugated tubes (LCTs) with a sinusoidal cross-section in the middle. Systematic crashworthiness study for SSLCTs is carried out with multi-objective optimization design. The results show that the wall thickness of ICTs plays an important role in the specific energy absorption, while the wall thickness of OCTs plays a major role in initial peak force. The multi-objective optimizations of SSLCTs with N = 6 and N = 10 were performed. The optimization results show that the Pareto frontier coverage is wider for SSLCTs with N = 6 than N = 10. But these two different SSLCTs get almost identical optimal solutions. Finally, the interaction effects were also studied and it was found that the highest initial peak force was reduced by 22.39%, and the specific energy absorption was increased by 16.75% compared to the separate compression of individual tube.