An Experimental Study on the Crashworthiness of Thin-walled Tubes and Their Metallic Foam-Filled Structures
薄壁管及其泡沫金属填充结构耐撞性的实验研究

Quasi-static axial compression tests were conducted on two types of empty aluminum alloy tubes (circular and square) and five types of aluminum foam filled tube structures (foam-filled single circular and square tubes, foam-filled double circular and square tubes and corner-foam-filled square tube). The load-deformation characteristics, deformation mode and energy absorption ability of these thin-walled structures were investigated. Several parameters related to their crashworthiness were compared, including the specific energy absorption, the energy-absorbing effectiveness factor, etc. The influence of physical dimension on the crashworthiness of these structure was explored. It is found that the dimension of inner tube has significant influence on the structural crashworthiness of foam-filled double tube structures. The averaged crush force, the specific energy absorption, the energy per stroke and the energy-absorbing effectiveness factor of thin-walled circular structures are higher than those of the thin-walled square structures, respectively. Foam-filled single and double circular tube structures are recommended as crashworthy structures due to their high crush force efficiency and energy-absorbing efficiency.