Energy absorption of circular aluminium tubes with functionally graded thickness under axial impact loading

The main objective of this study is to investigate the effects of thickness-gradient patterns on energy absorption characteristics of aluminium-based circular tubes under axial impact loading. Functionally graded thickness (FGT) enables to obtain variable stiffness throughout the length of a structure; thus, it provides more efficient control of the crashworthiness parameters when compared with traditionally designed uniform thickness (UT) counterparts. In order to investigate the crash behaviour of FGT tubes, different thickness-gradient patterns are introduced to the axial direction of the tubes and then impact with a fixed rigid wall is simulated by using the nonlinear explicit finite element (FE) method. To show the efficiency of FGT tubes, crashworthiness performance of the FGT tubes are compared with their UT counterparts at the same weight. The effects of thickness range and aspect ratio of the tubes on their crash behaviours are also investigated. The simulation results show that the FGT tubes have superior crashworthiness performance than that of their UT counterparts and the crashworthiness parameters of the FGT tubes can be controlled and improved with the appropriate selection of geometric parameters of the tubes.

[1]  G. Lu,et al.  Quasi-static axial compression of thin-walled circular aluminium tubes , 2001 .

[2]  Guoxing Lu,et al.  Quasi-static axial compression of thin-walled tubes with different cross-sectional shapes , 2013 .

[3]  Marcílio Alves,et al.  Dynamic Elastic-Plastic Buckling of Structural Elements: A Review , 2008 .

[4]  Bertan Bayram,et al.  The effect of geometrical parameters on the energy absorption characteristics of thin-walled structures under axial impact loading , 2010 .

[5]  Seyed Jamal Hosseinipour,et al.  Energy absorbtion and mean crushing load of thin-walled grooved tubes under axial compression , 2003 .

[6]  Qing Li,et al.  Crashing analysis and multiobjective optimization for thin-walled structures with functionally graded thickness , 2014 .

[7]  Yan Chen,et al.  Axial crushing of thin-walled structures with origami patterns , 2012 .

[8]  Guangyong Sun,et al.  Experimental study on crashworthiness of tailor-welded blank (TWB) thin-walled high-strength steel (HSS) tubular structures , 2014 .

[9]  Fenglin Guo,et al.  A comparative study on the windowed and multi-cell square tubes under axial and oblique loading , 2013 .

[10]  N. K. Gupta,et al.  Plastic collapse of metallic conical frusta of large semi-apical angles , 1997 .

[11]  Javad Marzbanrad,et al.  An energy absorption comparison of square, circular, and elliptic steel and aluminum tubes under impact loading , 2009 .

[12]  Experimental and numerical investigation of axial crushing of dissimilar thickness tailor-welded tubes , 2006 .

[13]  Ali Limam,et al.  Experimental and numerical investigation of static and dynamic axial crushing of circular aluminum tubes , 2004 .

[14]  K. Kalaivani,et al.  Foil Optimization in Tailor Welded Blank of an Automotive Floor Component , 2012 .

[15]  Tuncer Toprak,et al.  Numerical and experimental study of crashworthiness parameters of honeycomb structures , 2014 .

[16]  Hasan Gedikli.  Numerical investigation of axial crushing behavior of a tailor welded tube , 2013 .

[17]  Mohammad Tahaye Abadi,et al.  Axial crushing analysis of end-capped circular tubes , 2011 .

[18]  D. Thambiratnam,et al.  Dynamic simulation and energy absorption of tapered thin-walled tubes under oblique impact loading , 2006 .

[19]  Dimitrios E. Manolakos,et al.  On the crashworthiness of composite rectangular thin-walled tubes internally reinforced with aluminium or polymeric foams: Experimental and numerical simulation , 2009 .

[20]  H. R. Zarei,et al.  Multiobjective crashworthiness optimization of circular aluminum tubes , 2006 .

[21]  G. Wen,et al.  Multiobjective crashworthiness optimization of functionally lateral graded foam-filled tubes , 2013 .

[22]  K.R.F. Andrews,et al.  Classification of the axial collapse of cylindrical tubes under quasi-static loading , 1983 .

[23]  Yan Fu,et al.  Application of Tailor Rolled Blank in Vehicle Front End for Frontal Impact , 2007 .

[24]  Qing Li,et al.  Crashworthiness design of multi-component tailor-welded blank (TWB) structures , 2013 .

[25]  Neil Genzlinger.  A. and Q , 2006 .

[26]  W. Abramowicz,et al.  Thin-walled structures as impact energy absorbers , 2003 .

[27]  Fenglin Guo,et al.  A relationship between progressive collapse and initial buckling for tubular structures under axial loading , 2013 .

[28]  Odd Sture Hopperstad,et al.  Crash behaviour of thin-walled aluminium members , 1998 .

[29]  Norman Jones,et al.  Dynamic axial crushing of circular tubes , 1984 .

[30]  Abdulmalik A. Alghamdi,et al.  Collapsible impact energy absorbers: an overview , 2001 .

[31]  J. Marsolek,et al.  Energy absorption of metallic cylindrical shells with induced non-axisymmetric folding patterns , 2004 .

[32]  Lin Yang,et al.  Quasi-static axial compression of triangular steel tubes , 2013 .

[33]  G. Nurick,et al.  Energy absorption of aluminium alloy circular and square tubes under an axial explosive load , 2005 .

[34]  Peter Hartley,et al.  Use of a mean-normal technique for efficient and numerically stable large-strain elastic-plastic finite-element solutions , 1986 .

[35]  Xu Han,et al.  Multiobjective optimization for tapered circular tubes , 2011 .

[36]  Hui Zhang,et al.  Experimental and numerical investigation on crush resistance of polygonal columns and angle elements , 2012 .

[37]  Ali Ghamarian,et al.  Crashworthiness investigation of conical and cylindrical end-capped tubes under quasi-static crash loading , 2012 .

[38]  Qing Li,et al.  Design optimization of regular hexagonal thin-walled columns with crashworthiness criteria , 2007 .

[39]  Alexander Meyer,et al.  Increasing of the drawing depth using tailor rolled blanks—Numerical and experimental analysis , 2008 .

[41]  H. Zarei,et al.  Crashworthiness optimization of empty and filled aluminum crash boxes , 2007 .

[42]  Shu Yang,et al.  Crushing analysis and multiobjective crashworthiness optimization of tapered square tubes under oblique impact loading , 2012 .

[43]  Javad Marzbanrad,et al.  Multi-Objective Optimization of aluminum hollow tubes for vehicle crash energy absorption using a genetic algorithm and neural networks , 2011 .

[44]  Bade Simhachalam,et al.  Energy absorption characteristics of aluminium alloy AA7XXX and AA6061 tubes subjected to static and dynamic axial load , 2014 .

[45]  Mahmoud Shakeri,et al.  New insights into the collapsing of cylindrical thin-walled tubes under axial impact load , 2007 .

[46]  Norman Jones,et al.  Quasi-static and dynamic axial crushing of thin-walled circular stainless steel, mild steel and aluminium alloy tubes , 2004 .

[47]  S. Reid,et al.  Static and dynamic crushing of tapered sheet metal tubes of rectangular cross-section , 1986 .

[48]  Mehdi Tajdari,et al.  Attempts to improve energy absorption characteristics of circular metal tubes subjected to axial loading , 2010 .

[49]  A. G. Mamalis,et al.  Finite element simulation of the axial collapse of thin-wall square frusta , 2000 .

[50]  Javad Marzbanrad,et al.  Analytical and experimental studies on quasi-static axial crush behavior of thin-walled tailor-made aluminum tubes , 2012 .