Investigation of Structural and Material Effects on Crashworthiness of Advanced High Strength Steel Columns

An experimental and numerical study was performed to evaluate the crashworthiness of several advanced high strength steels. The behavior of two Dual Phase (DP) steels and an HSLA steel are compared by examining the crush response of longeron column specimens, experimentally and computationally. The closed section columns, fabricated by spot welding formed channel sections, in both single hat and double hat configurations were exposed to 182 kg and 454 kg axial impacts at different velocities. Final column height and impact force history were recorded and compared with results of finite element simulation of the columns. Good agreement was found between experiments and computations.Copyright © 2003 by ASME