Effect of the number of stiffeners on the lateral deformation behavior of additively manufactured thin-walled cylindrical tubes

Abstract

Nowadays, thin-walled cylindrical tubes with stiffeners have been rapidly considered in crashworthiness applications owing to their outstanding energy absorption characteristics and comparatively light weight. This research article deals with the influence of the internal linear stiffeners with varying numbers on the lateral crushing characteristics and impact energy absorbing response of cylindrical tubes subjected to quasi-static loading through experimental approaches. Five different configurations were proposed and all the tubes were additively manufactured through Fusion Deposition Modeling (FDM)-based 3 D printing method. Eventually, the fabricated tubes were tested under quasi‐static lateral crushing force and their crashworthiness characteristics were determined. The obtained results revealed that the PLA-CF-based C6S tube exhibited Specific Energy Absorption of 4.99 kJ/g and attained Crush Force Efficiency is 98.68%. Overall outcomes reported that both the carbon fiber reinforced polymer composite tube structures presented better crushing behavior and enhanced energy absorbing capability. Therefore, the proposed linear stiffener induced cylindrical tubes could be employed as a crash box for absorbing energy under lateral impact.

Keywords:

• Additive manufacturing
• lateral loading
• polymeric composite
• stiffeners
• tubular structure

Data availability statement

The datasets generated during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Additional information

Funding

The authors wish to thank Department of Science & Technology, Government of India for funding the Research Infrastructure under the Scheme entitled "Funds for the Improvement of S&T Infrastructure (DST-FIST)" Ref. No. SR/FST/College – 110/2017 for Easwari Engineering college.