Author(s)

M. R. Said, A. A. Mokhtar, A. Alias & A. Ibrahim

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to investigate the folding mechanism of an empty hexagonal tube made of mild steel with respect to the energy absorption. This includes the determination of the plastic wavelength, type of deforming mode and the mean load of the tube subjected to an axial loading. The introduction of chamfer at one end of the tube is also examined and studied. The comparison load-displacement curves between experiment and Finite Element Analysis (FEA) are made. The experimental mean load is also compared with theoretical analysis. The response of the hexagonal tube subjected to axial loading is observed through experiments. The formation of plastic fold length is observed and measured. The mean load and area under the load-displacement curve are calculated to obtain the energy absorption. By introducing the chamfer at one end, the deforming pattern can be determined, i.e. in-out chamfer gives a diamond mode while all-out chamfer gives a concentina mode. The FEA loaddisplacement curve agrees well with the experiment. However, the predicted mean load is overestimated, while the equivalent circular cylinder underestimates the experimental result. Keywords: energy absorption, hexagonal tubes, triggering, and crushed. 1 Introduction Energy absorption systems made of thin-walled circular tubes and tube nests have been given significant attention by researchers for the past few decades. In particular, the initiation progressive axisymmetric and non-axisymmetrical

Keywords

energy absorption, hexagonal tubes, triggering, and crushed.