Citation

Xie Z. Int. J. Crashworthiness 2021; 26(6): 591-597.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2021, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/13588265.2020.1766186

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Thin-walled structures have an inherent shortcoming that their cross sections are likely to flatten when subjected to transverse loading. In the paper, four simple novel reinforcement configurations into the thin-walled square tubes are put forward, and their bending resistance under three-point bending is investigated using the ABAQUS/Explicit code. The numerical results indicate that the reinforcements considerably enhance the structural bending resistance by effectively restricting the flattening of the upper compressive region of the cross sections. The variational characteristic of the maximum loads and the mean loads with the variables for the four reinforcing configurations is analyzed. The two key indicators SEA (specific energy absorption) and CLE (crash load efficiency) are introduced to further evaluate their energy absorbing and safeguard performance. It is found that one of the suggested reinforcement configurations significantly improve the values of SEA and CLE by 93.5%, 68.1% respectively, compared with the conventional empty tube.

Language: en

Keywords

finite element; reinforcement optimization; specific energy absorption; Thin-walled tubes; three-point bending