With the increasing damage of lives and properties caused by impact accidents, thin-walled tubes have been widely employed to make energy-absorbing structures in the field of automotive engineering due to their lightweight and energy absorption ability. In this work, we proposed three kinds of thin-walled bio-mimetic tubes inspired by horsetail plants and investigated the energy absorption abilities of the above structures with hollow columns under impact loading by means of the finite-element method. The effect of three factors, including column diameter, wall thickness, and impact angle, on the energy absorption characteristics of the bio-mimetic structure, is discussed. The primary outcome of this research is a design method for the use of thin-walled multi-cell tubes for an energy absorption device where impact loading is expected. It was also found that the energy absorption performances of the hexagonal structures are better than that of the triangular and quadrilateral ones. Moreover, the results revealed that the absorbed energy by thin-walled bio-mimetic structures shows more dependence on the impact angle than on the wall thickness of the tube.
YoderMThompsonLSummersJ. Size effects in lattice-structured cellular materials: Edge softening effects. J Mater Sci2019; 54: 3942–3959.
2.
ChoiJLeeS. Sectional analysis procedure for reinforced concrete members subjected to pure torsion. Adv Civ Eng2019; 2019: 1–13.
3.
ÁdányS. Modal identification of thin-walled members by using the constrained finite element method. Thin Wall Struct2019; 140: 31–42.
4.
DiasYMahendranMPoologanathanK. Axial compression strength of gypsum plasterboard and steel sheathed web-stiffened stud walls. Thin Wall Struct2019; 134: 203–219.
5.
Shahgholian-GhahfarokhiDAghaei-RuzbahaniMRahimiG. Vibration correlation technique for the buckling load prediction of composite sandwich plates with iso-grid cores. Thin Wall Struct2019; 142: 392–404.
6.
GanDZhouXLiuJ, et al. Seismic behavior of thin-walled circular and stiffened square steel tubed-reinforced-concrete columns. Sci China Technol Sci2019; 62: 511–520.
7.
DinisPBCamotimDLandesmannA, et al. On the direct strength method design of columns against global failures. Thin Wall Struct2019; 139: 242–270.
8.
KubitATrzepiecinskiTŚwięchŁ, et al. Experimental and numerical investigations of thin-walled stringer-stiffened panels welded with RFSSW technology under uniaxial compression. Materials2019; 12: 1785.
9.
ChengSFengPMengX, et al. Compression behavior of large-scaled cylindrical GFRP chimney liner segments. Compos Struct2020; 232: 111543.
10.
WangBDuKHaoP, et al. Experimental validation of cylindrical shells under axial compression for improved knockdown factors. Int J Solids Struct2019; 164: 37–51.
11.
LiangKYangCSunQ. A smeared stiffener based reduced-order modelling method for buckling analysis of isogrid-stiffened cylinder. Appl Math Model2020; 77: 756–772.
12.
SimCKimHParkJ, et al. Derivation of knockdown factors for grid-stiffened cylinders considering various shell thickness ratios. Aircr Eng Aerosp Tec2019; 91: 1314–1326.
13.
KopeckiTMazurekPLisT. Experimental and numerical analysis of a composite thin-walled cylindrical structures with different variants of stiffeners, subjected to torsion. Materials2019; 12: 3230.
14.
Aydın KorucukFMMaaliMKılıçM, et al. Experimental analysis of the effect of dent variation on the buckling capacity of thin-walled cylindrical shells. Thin Wall Struct2019; 143: 106259.
15.
ChenHXuYHuJ, et al. Optimization of lightweight sub-stiffened panels with buckling analysis and imperfection sensitivity analysis. Proc IMechE, Part G: J Aerospace Engineering2019; 233: 5507–5521.
16.
HaoPWangYWuZ, et al. Progressive optimization of complex shells with cutouts using a smart design domain method. Comput Method Appl Mech2020; 362: 112814.
17.
WagnerHNRHühneCKhakimovaR. On the development of shell buckling knockdown factors for imperfection sensitive conical shells under pure bending. Thin Wall Struct2019; 145: 106373.
18.
LiYWangYMaR, et al. Improved reliability-based design optimization of non-uniformly stiffened spherical dome. Struct Multidiscip Optim2019; 60: 375–392.
19.
ZhangYJinJHouH, et al. The buckling strength of plexiglass protective shield under static water pressure. Eng Fail Anal2019; 99: 169–179.
20.
PeroniLAvalleMBelingardiG. Comparison of the energy absorption capability of crash boxes assembled by spot-weld and continuous joining techniques. Int J Impact Eng2009; 36: 498–511.
21.
AvalleMPeroniLPeroniM, et al. Bi-material joining for car body structures: experimental and numerical analysis. J Adhes2010; 86: 539–560.
22.
BelingardiGBeyeneATJichuanD. Energy absorbing capability of GMT, GMTex and GMT-UD composite panels for static and dynamic loading – experimental and numerical study. Compos Struct2016; 143: 371–387.
23.
DuJHaoP. Investigation on microstructure of beetle elytra and energy absorption properties of bio-inspired honeycomb thin-walled structure under axial dynamic crushing. Nanomaterials2018; 8: 667.
24.
XiangJDuJ. Energy absorption characteristics of bio-inspired honeycomb structure under axial impact loading. Mater Sci Eng A2017; 696: 283–289.
25.
ScarangellaASoldanVMitovM. Biomimetic design of iridescent insect cuticles with tailored, self-organized cholesteric patterns. Nat Commun2020; 11: 4108.
26.
HaoPDuJ. Mechanical properties of bio-mimetic energy-absorbing materials under impact loading. J Mater Sci2018; 53: 3189–3197.
27.
SongZNiYCaiS. Fracture modes and hybrid toughening mechanisms in oscillated/twisted plywood structure. Acta Biomater2019; 91: 284–293.
28.
DuJHaoPLiuM, et al. Energy absorbed ability and damage analysis for honeycomb sandwich material of bio-inspired micro aerial vehicle under low velocity impact. Proc IMechE, Part C: J Mechanical Engineering Science2020: 2141154170.
29.
DuJHaoPLiuM, et al. Multi-cell energy-absorbing structures with hollow columns inspired by the beetle elytra. J Mater Sci2020; 55: 4279–4291.
30.
HaoPDuJ. Energy absorption characteristics of bio-inspired honeycomb column thin-walled structure under impact loading. J Mech Behav Biomed2018; 79: 301–308.
31.
ChenJHaoNPanL, et al. Characteristics of compressive mechanical properties and strengthening mechanism of 3D-printed grid beetle elytron plates. J Mater Sci2020; 55: 8541–8552.
32.
RiveraJHosseiniMSRestrepoD, et al. Toughening mechanisms of the elytra of the diabolical ironclad beetle. Nature2020; 586: 543–548.
33.
HuangWShishehborMGuarín-ZapataN, et al. A natural impact-resistant bicontinuous composite nanoparticle coating. Nat Mater2020; 19: 1236–1243.
34.
YinHXiaoYWenG, et al. Crushing analysis and multi-objective optimization design for bionic thin-walled structure. Mater Des2015; 87: 825–834.
35.
XiaoYYinHFangH, et al. Crashworthiness design of horsetail-bionic thin-walled structures under axial dynamic loading. Int J Mech Mater Des2016; 12: 563–576.
36.
YangSQiC. Multiobjective optimization for empty and foam-filled square columns under oblique impact loading. Int J Impact Eng2013; 54: 177–191.
37.
KaragiozovaDNurickGNYuenCK. Energy absorption of aluminium alloy circular and square tubes under an axial explosive load. Thin Wall Struct2005; 6: 956–982.
38.
LiuSTongZTangZ, et al. Bionic design modification of non-convex multi-corner thin-walled columns for improving energy absorption through adding bulkheads. Thin Wall Struct2015; 88: 70–81.
39.
LeeKYangYKimS, et al. Energy absorption control characteristics of Al thin-walled tubes under impact load. Acta Mech Solid Sin2008; 21: 383–388.
