Lateral crushing and energy absorption behavior of multicellular tube structures

Abstract

Thin-walled metallic tubular elements are extensively employed as an impact energy attenuator in modern vehicles owing to light weight, easy fabrication and average cost. Besides, the novel multi-cell tubular structures have superior energy absorption characteristics related to a conventional simple cell tube. In this research article, the finite element simulation of thin-walled aluminium alloy extruded multicellular structure under lateral impact loading is investigated. Nonlinear impact simulations were performed on multicellular tubes of various configurations using finite element ABAQUS/CAE explicit code. From the outcomes attained, the energy absorption capability of various multicellular tube structures were compared and it shows that multicellular tubes have more remarkable than that of traditional simple cell tubes. Moreover, square shaped multicellular structure tube were retained as most prominent for higher energy absorption. This type of multicellular tubes was found to be effective one to improve the lateral crashworthiness performance.