On novel foam-filled double-hexagonal tube for multiple load cases

Abstract

In this article, novel foam-filled double-hexagonal tubes (F-DHTs) are proposed and investigated for multiple load cases. First, the finite element (FE) models of DHTs with four different foam filler modes under axial and multiangle oblique impact loading are built and verified by experiment. The four foam filler modes are, respectively, Hollow-Hollow-DHT, Filled-Hollow-DHT, Hollow-Filled-DHT and Filled-Filled-DHT (FF-DHT). Second, a comprehensive crashworthiness comparison is conducted among the above DHTs, which discloses the relative advantage of novel F-DHTs. On this basis, taking the FF-DHT as research object, a systematic parameter influence study is implemented. Subsequently, the FF-DHT is multiobjective crashworthiness optimized by using a hybrid method. According to the optimization result, the FF-DHT obtains 16.69% higher overall specific energy absorption () yet 1.11% higher initial peak crushing force compared with the baseline design. Hence, the novel F-DHTs could be superior potential thin-walled energy-absorbers.