Numerical Analysis of a Steel Hollow Beam Subjected to Axial Compression and Oblique Loadings

Abstract

Over the past few decades there has been a growing interest in designing a structural component which is capable of absorbing a large amount of energy during impact. This so-called energy absorbers have found common usage in many applications such as in aircraft, automotive, and road barriers. This paper presents the crush analysis of a hollow square beam subjected to axial compression and oblique loadings. Quasi-static and dynamic numerical analyses using ANSYS finite element analysis commercial package were carried out on the beam subjected to various angles of oblique loadings applied at the edge of the beam to simulate one of the actual load cases which might occur in the event of impact. The isotropic strain hardening rule and the Johnson-Cook material models (for high strain rates) were utilized for the quasi-static and dynamic crush analyses respectively. Validation of the numerical analysis were carried out and the results were in good agreement with the published results which confirms the accuracy of the simulation scheme. Parametric study was performed for the steel hollow tube to investigate the effect of beam wall thickness, load obliquity, and the impact velocity onto the specific energy absorption (SEA) and the initial peak load. Based on the quasi-static analysis, it has been observed that the peak load and SEA increases with the beam wall thickness but linearly reduced when the oblique angles of the applied loadings are increased. On the other hand, increasing in the impact velocity has resulted in the increase in both the SEA and peak load.