Geometric design and energy absorption of a new deployable cylinder tube

Abstract

A new prefolded tube is proposed by introducing web into a thin-walled tube based on “Miura origami”. The quasi-static compression analysis of this tube shows that the web has an important influence on deformation mode and energy absorption. Compared with a circular tube, the new thin-walled tube not only maintains the superior performance of low initial peak force and induced deformation mode, but also has a better energy absorption capacity. The influences of the number of units, edges, and prefolding angle on the deformation process of the new thin-walled tube are determined through parameter analysis. An optimized structure is designed, and the initial peak force is reduced. The energy absorption of the new structure under quasi-static compression is also theoretically analyzed, and the theoretical results are in good agreement with the numerical simulation results.

Keywords:

• Axial crushing
• deformation mode
• energy absorption
• thin-walled tubes

Acknowledgments

The financial contributions are gratefully acknowledged.

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11772216, 11772215, 11902215, 11602161, 12072219), the "1331 Project" Fund and Key Innovation Teams of Shanxi Province and the Top Young Academic Leaders of Shanxi, the Sanjin Young Scholars Project of Shanxi Province, the Youth Academic Backbone Cultivation Project from Taiyuan University of Technology, and Opening Foundation for State Key Laboratory for Strength and Vibration of Mechanical Structures.