Abstract
In this study, a numerical and experimental investigation of the quasi-static crushing behavior of steel tubular structures was conducted. As the crushing failure behavior involves a high level of nonlinearity for the numerical simulations, these were compared with previous experimental works, including crushing tests of steel square tubes to calibrate the numerical results. Six parameters for the numerical simulations, namely (1) loading boundary condition, (2) geometrical imperfection, (3) friction coefficient, (4) element size, (5) element type, and (6) material nonlinearity model, were examined using a series of finite element analyses. Through the sensitivity study for each parameter, the deformation and crushing load of the steel tube were investigated, and the value that best matched the experimental results was selected. The results of the numerical analysis for the determined model were compared with the experimental results. Finally, the authors provided recommendations that should be considered when performing nonlinear finite element simulations of crushing failure events.
Highlights
The results show that 27.6% and 31.7% are the maximum differences between the test results and finite element (FE) simulations fo8rotfh2e8 free and fixed boundary conditions, respectively, regarding the ultimate crushing loads
For the efficient and accurate numerical implementation of the steel tubular structure subjected to axial crushing, the main parameters required for the FE model were determined by a series of case studies
The differences between the experimental and analysis results of the six specimens, for the values applied in each parameter, are presented using the box-andwhisker plot [32], except for the element size case, where the difference is presented using a bar chart because only one sample was tested
Summary
Most of the world’s cargo volume is transported using ships, and the volume of ship traffic continues to increase. Ohtsubo and Suzuki [10] presented an accurate calculation method for the mean crushing strength of a ship’s bow structure and proposed a formula design by comparing the results of finite element analyses (FEAs) with the existing experimental works. Jones and Birch [11] conducted experimental studies on the structural behavior of square section steel tubes, with various heights and numbers of stiffeners, against axial impact loads. Pugsley [12] carried out impact tests on longitudinally stiffened steel tubes to investigate the crushing behavior of a railway vehicle for collision cases and formulated the mean crushing load based on the stiffness ratio. Nagasawa et al [15–17] carried out a quasi-static crushing test for hull and bridge models, in order to estimate the impact load and internal absorbed energy for the case of a collision accident between a ship and a bridge.
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