Crushing Analysis of Empty and Foam-Filled Cylindrical and Conical Corrugated Composite Tubes

In the present article, a numerical study is performed to investigate the crushing behavior of cylindrical and conical corrugated composite tubes. Different aluminum foams are applied to the proposed structures in order to offer an excellent energy absorption capacity. The crushing behavior of tubes are evaluated in terms of two parameters: SEA (specific energy absorption) and CFE (crush force efficiently). So, in order to study the effect of corrugation on the crashworthiness of composite tubes, a comprehensive numerical analysis of corrugated carbon/BMI tubes is performed under axial loadings. The effect of geometric parameters of corrugation including number and radius of corrugations is studied by FE simulation of several models in LS-DYNA. Comparison between corrugated tubes and straight one demonstrated that the CFE would be improved significantly in these new models. Furthermore, the absorbed energy increased by using foams. SEA, mean force and peak forces increased by increasing the foam density while the crush force efficiently decreased considerably due to the fact that in higher densities, densification region accrues in fewer strains.