Crashworthiness analysis of multi-cell filled tube with lateral corrugated tubes

In this study, inspired by the intrinsic mechanism of axial compression of filled tubes and combining corrugated tubes with multicellular tubes, a lateral Multicellular filled lateral corrugated tube (MFLCT) is proposed. The durability performance of this structure under axial impact is investigated using a validated Abaqus/Explicit finite element model. The research findings indicate that the proposed MFLCT exhibits better energy absorption capability compared to MFST and MFCT under the same thickness and mass conditions. For the same thickness, MFLCT shows a maximum increase of 12.16% in specific energy absorption (SEA) compared to MFST (MFLCT-N6A16), with a maximum reduction of 11.31% in peak crushing force (PCF), and a PCF reduction of 3.06% compared to MFST. Additionally, MFLCT shows a maximum increase of 10.94% in SEA compared to MFCT. For the same mass, MFLCT exhibits a maximum increase of 7.84% and 8.49% in SEA compared to MFST and MFCT, respectively, while the maximum reductions in PCF are 3.06% and 4.89%, respectively. Subsequently, a parametric study of MFLCT is systematically conducted to investigate the influence of corrugation number, amplitude, wall thickness, and nominal diameter on the structural durability, yielding optimal energy absorption ratios for MFLCT under different parameters.