Crashworthiness analysis and optimization of fourier varying section tubes

Abstract Thin-walled structures are widely used as energy absorption devices for their proven advantages on lightweight and crashworthiness. However, a majority of studies have being focus on exploring separately the crashworthiness of the thin-walled structure with a specific geometric section, such as circular, square, hexagon, octagon etc., and little research has investigated the relationship of crashworthiness among thin-walled structures with different sections systematically. This paper utilizes Fourier series expansion to generate a series of novel sectional configurations, namely Fourier varying sectional tubes (FVSTs), to look into their advantages of crashworthiness, thereby developing some FVSTs with highest possible energy absorption capacity. Based on the validated finite element (FE) models, parametric analysis is conducted to investigate the effects of cross-sectional configuration, perimeter and thickness of FVSTs on collapse mode and energy absorption. The results showed that the collapse modes of FVSTs are fairly sensitive to cross-sectional configuration, perimeter and wall thickness. Of these FVSTs generated, the highest specific energy absorption (SEA) increases 77.54% by increasing perimeter and 69.73% by decreasing wall thickness. Finally, a discrete optimization based on the orthogonal arrays is conducted to obtain the optimal FVST for maximizing SEA under the constraint of the initial peak crushing force (IPCF). The optimized FVSTs are of superior crashworthiness and great potential as an energy absorber.

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