Research - Crushing of Tubes

Gaurav Nilakantan

Research—Dynamic Axial

Crushing of Circular Tubes

This research focuses on the development of a numerical formulation to study the dynamic axial crushing of circular tubes. The formulation is based on an energy balance approach and applies a numerical scheme to solve the governing analytical equations of axial crushing. The formulation can accurately predict the time histories of crushing parameters such as plastic work of the tube, kinetic energy of the impactor, and dynamic crushing load. From this, other data such as the instantaneous impactor velocity and acceleration can be obtained which are of use in occupant survivability studies and crashworthiness applications.

The formulation works in two different configurations. The first configuration is meant for impact of stationery tubes, while the second configuration handles tubes that are axially crushed after moving with an initial velocity.

The formulation proves to be a far less expensive alternative computationally, compare to numerical simulations that utilize commercial finite element codes. Further, the tube material and geometrical properties can be easily altered to study their effect on the crushing response.