Numerical crushing analysis of aluminum foam-filled corrugated single- and double-circular tubes subjected to axial impact loading

In this paper, aluminum foam-filling method was applied to corrugated tubes numerically, offering a novel structure that may have excellent energy absorption capacity. The study aims to provide a comparative study on the crushing responses of aluminum foam-filled corrugated single- and double-tubes with different corrugation lengths. The effects of geometric parameters like radius and wall thickness of inner tube in double-tubes on the energy absorption were also discussed. Dynamic crushing simulations were performed on finite element software LS-DYNA at impact velocity of 16.7 m/s (corresponding to 60 km/h). The comparisons revealed that tubes with corrugations experienced progressive and con-certina type of deformation and tubes with smaller corrugation length showed smooth force-displacement curve with low initial peak force. SEA of foam-filled corrugated double-tubes was found to be superior to foam-filled straight tubes. (c) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.