Experimental Study on the Lateral Compression and Energy Absorption Characteristic of Steel Tube Filled with Polyurethane Foam

In order to enhance the lateral compression energy absorption capability of round steel tube without obviously increasing the mass of round steel tube, this paper has developed the polyurethane foam filled round steel tube and through experimental comparison, studied such parameters as the laterally-compressed platform loading, total absorbed energy and energy absorbed per unit mass for the filled tubes and empty tubes of three kinds of pipe diameter. The results show that the round steel tube filled with polyurethane foam can change the deformation mode of round steel tube and increase the energy absorption capability of steel tube substantially with very little increase of mass; the energy absorption efficiency is obviously higher than the one of empty steel tube.