Abstract
In this paper, a multi-cell design method with built-in stiffeners is proposed to improve the crashworthiness of metal circular tubes. In the study, multi-cell circular tubes with three different stiffeners (Line, Waved, Polyline) were subjected to compression tests under quasi-static load. The finite element model of the metal circular tube was validated by ABAQUS/EXPLICIT, and the geometry of the stiffener was designed on this basis. The results showed that the energy absorption of the multi-cell tube was significantly better than that of the initial tube. Further, ‘Waved’ and ‘Polyline’ are more conducive to improving the crashworthiness of the multi-cell tube from the geometric design of the stiffeners. Through the analysis of load-displacement responses and crashworthiness indexs, it was found that the more the number of ‘Waved’ or ‘Polyline’ (from 2 to 8), the better the energy absorption of the multi-cell tubes and the smaller the load fluctuation. In addition the effect of the number of stiffeners on energy absorption was also revealed.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).