Crash behavior and optimization of double tubes with different cross section

Abstract

Finite element analysis of double tubes under axial and oblique loads are presented in this paper. This study tested double tubes which consisted of an outer tube and an inner tube. The inner tube used varied, in terms of shape, including the form of a triangle, square, hexagon, and octagonal. The crash behavior of the four types of tubes are first investigated by nonlinear finite element analysis through ABAQUS. It is found that the octagonal tube has the best crashworthiness performance under axial impact regarding both specific energy absorption (SEA) and peak crushing force (PCF). Then, the variations in the loading angle were analyzed in the oblique test category for octagonal tubes with angular variations of 10°, 20°, and 30°. In addition, optimization design of the octagonal tube is performed by adopting multiobjective nueral network algorithm to achieve maximum SEA capacity and minimum TEA with and without considering load angle effect. It is found that the optimal designs of the octagonal tubes under different load angles.

Keywords:

• Double tube
• oblique
• optimization
• crash analysis
• finite element analysis