Axial crushing of monotubal and bitubal circular foam-filled sections

AbstrAct Purpose: The main goal of this paper is to present experimental and numerical studies of dynamic axial crushing of thin-walled monotubal and bitubal foam-filled cylindrical sections. Design/methodology/approach: Dynamic tests were performed on empty as well on foam-filled specimens. The effect of filling the specimens with different density polyurethane foams was studied as well. The explicit dynamics non-linear finite element code PAM-CRASH™ was used to simulate the crushing of columns. Findings: The influence of fillers on energy absorption and behavior of circular thin-walled monotubal and bitubal arrangements was examined. Three main collapse modes were identified for the crushed samples, i.e. compound diamond (asymmetric), concertina (axisymmetric) and mixed mode fold formations. Research limitations/implications: Further investigations concerning energy absorption of axially crushed monotubal and bitubal sections should be done. The influence of cross-section, foam density, impact velocity and other parameters should be examined more in details.