Investigating the effect of material type in the new design of thin-walled tubes under axial loading

Crash energy absorbers in the form of thin walled tubes play a significant role in mitigating the harmful effects of frontal vehicles accidents on occupants. Specific energy absorbed (SEA), which is the ratio of impact energy absorbed to mass, is usually used to evaluate the efficiency of crash energy absorbers. A good design of a crash energy absorber must maximize the amount of impact energy that can be absorbed with a certain weight. The formal approach that has been used to improve the design of crash energy absorbers is to employ optimization to search for the optimum thickness distribution that maximizes SEA. This approach can be conceptualized as searching the design space in only one dimension (thickness). In this paper, a new dimension is added to the design space (material type). The proposed approach considers the type of material as a variable. An optimum design is then found by not only searching for the optimum thickness distribution, but also by selecting the optimum material type. The approach is demonstrated to the design improvement of a crash energy absorber in the form of a thin walled tube of square cross section. Steel and magnesium have been used as the two material alternatives. Magnesium has been selected due to its low density that had made it a promising candidate for use as a structural material in the automobile manufacturing. The results have shown that following the proposed technique, SEA has been increased by 54% compared to the value obtained through following the formal design optimization approach.

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Investigating the energy absorption, SEA and crushing performance of holed and grooved thin-walled tubes under axial loading with different materials

Thin-Walled Structures ◽

10.1016/j.tws.2018.07.024 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 131 ◽

pp. 646-653 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Saharnaz Montazeri ◽

Majid Elyasi ◽

Amin Moradpour

Keyword(s):

Energy Absorption ◽

Axial Loading ◽

Thin Walled

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Stability and strength analysis of thin-walled GLARE composite profiles subjected to axial loading

Composite Structures ◽

10.1016/j.compstruct.2019.01.052 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 212 ◽

pp. 338-345 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

D. Banat ◽

R.J. Mania

Keyword(s):

Axial Loading ◽

Strength Analysis ◽

Thin Walled

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Crashworthiness analysis of thin-walled bio-inspired multi-cell corrugated tubes under quasi-static axial loading

Engineering Structures ◽

10.1016/j.engstruct.2019.110069 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 204 ◽

pp. 110069 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Wen Ma ◽

Zhixiang Li ◽

Suchao Xie

Keyword(s):

Axial Loading ◽

Thin Walled ◽

Crashworthiness Analysis

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Impact Response of Thin-Walled Tubes: A Prospective Review

Applied Mechanics and Materials ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/amm.165.130 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 165 ◽

pp. 130-134 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Fauziah Mat ◽

K. Azwan Ismail ◽

S. Yaacob ◽

O. Inayatullah

Keyword(s):

Compressive Loading ◽

Axial Loading ◽

Geometrical Parameters ◽

Axial Deformation ◽

Thin Walled Structures ◽

Structural Applications ◽

Thin Walled ◽

Energy Absorbers ◽

Energy Absorbing ◽

The Impact

Thin-walled structures have been widely used in various structural applications asimpact energy absorbing devices. During an impact situation, thin-walled tubesdemonstrate excellent capability in absorbing greater energy through plastic deformation. In this paper, a review of thin-walled tubes as collapsible energy absorbers is presented.As a mean of improving the impact energy absorption of thin-walled tubes, the influence of geometrical parameters such as length, diameter and wall thickness on the response of thin-walled tubes under compression axial loading are briefly discussed. Several design improvements proposed by previous researchers are also presented. The scope of this review is mainly focus on axial deformation under quasi-static and dynamic compressive loading. Other deformations, such as lateral indentation, inversion and splitting are considered beyond the scope of this paper. This review is intended to assist the future development of thin-walled tubes as efficient energy absorbing elements.

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