Crashworthiness Performance and the Improved Design of Lateral Corrugated Tubes Under Axial Impact

Lateral corrugated tubes (LCTs) with a sinusoidal cross-section have a wider design space than the ordinary circular tube, which is suitable for design of high performance energy absorbers. To investigate the influence of its structural parameters on crashworthiness, systematic parametric study of the LCTs has been carried out via finite element methods. Results show that LCTs have more deformation modes and more complicated deformations than circular tubes. The amplitude A and the number of corrugations N play a decisive role in the deformation mode and energy absorption. The analysis of different LCTs shows that the specific energy absorption (SEA) of LCTs with (N = 5, A = 3.5 mm) and (N = 7, A = 2.5 mm) increased by 33.68% and 34.97% compared with that of the circular tube, respectively. By changing the basic nominal radius (R0), the SEAs of the LCTs with (N = 6, R0 = 20 mm) and (N = 8, R0 = 18 mm) are 38.33% and 42.66% higher than those of the circular tubes, respectively. The effect of wall thickness on the energy absorption of LCTs was developed. Moreover, the deformation modes of LCTs will be improved by adding ribs inside the structures, significantly increasing its energy absorption. The sinusoidal function is introduced into the structural energy-absorbing design, and structural parameters such as A, N, and R0 can be configured to realize an adjustable and controllable design mechanism. The structural configuration and the design method of LCTs provide a practical reference for the design of energy absorbers.