Energy absorption characteristics of aluminum foam-filled corrugated tube under axial compression loading

To improve the energy absorption characteristics of thin-walled structures and reduce the initial peak compression force and load fluctuation, a novel aluminum foam-filled corrugated tube was proposed in this study. Finite element model validated by quasi-static compression experiments was adopted to investigate the crashworthiness performances of aluminum foam-filled corrugated tubes and their combined energy-absorbing structures. The effects of structure parameters including corrugation radius, wall thickness, corrugation length and corrugation radius increments on axial compression characteristics were investigated through finite element analysis. The results showed that compared with aluminum foam-filled straight tubes, the initial peak compression force of aluminum foam filled corrugated tube was reduced by 22.87 %, the compression force efficiency was increased by 6.69 % and the load fluctuation was reduced by 17.94 %. The smaller the values of corrugation radius, wall thickness and corrugation length, the smaller the initial peak compression force; Because the corrugation radius had a great effect on the peak compression force, the order that the corrugations were compressed into folds can be controlled by designing the corrugation radius; In view of the peak and valley values of compression force, an innovative combination of single tubes with different △H was obtained, which had better energy absorption performance. Compared with a single aluminum foam-filled corrugated tube, the compression force efficiency of the combined structure (△H: 0–5–10) was increased by 18.15 % and the load fluctuation was reduced by 33.60 %. The research results can provide a reference for the design and optimization of energy-absorbing devices.