Abstract
An all-composite energy-absorbing component assembled by polyethylene closed-cell foam (EPE) and paper corrugation sandwich tube is a new kind of promising sandwich structure, yet it is pressing to reveal the influence of tube direction, tube length ratio, and EPE filling means on the crashworthiness performance. Regardless of the filling means, the total energy absorption, specific energy absorption, and specific total efficiency of the X-direction tube are superior to the corresponding Y-direction tube, with the total energy absorption of the X-direction tube being 14.87–25.02% higher than that of the Y-direction tube. With the increase of tube length ratio, the cushioning energy absorption of the empty tube and three filled tubes shows a rising trend, for instance, the total energy absorption of the empty X-direction tube increases by 77.88% when the tube length ratio rises from 1.4 to 3.0, but the total energy absorption of the single-filled single tube is lower than the empty tube and the double sandwich tubes with EPE filling. The initial peak stress of the Y-direction tube is at least 144.44% higher than that of the corresponding X-direction tube, and its mean crush stress is at least 161.90% higher, yet the plateau zone of the latter is more than 1.5 times longer than that of the former. The finite element simulation has a good match with the test, and the difference of compression amount of the EPE-filled tube is around ±5% in the majority. The finite element analysis of the modified model shows better agreement with the experimental results, it provides an effective way to further study the effect of EPE on the cushioning energy absorption of the paper corrugation sandwich tube.
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