Finite Element Comparative Analysis of the Crushing Behaviour of Square Steel Tubes [ ]


The dynamic axial crushing of a thin-walled hot-rolled carbon steel square tubes are performed and their results were compared with published numerical and experimental data of a thin-walled high-strength steel. The goal is to determine and compare the mean crushing force, collapsed mode, energy absorption and crush force efficiency of the tube with respect to their different length sizes and impacting velocities using the commercial finite element Abaqus/Explicit package. The parameters used in this study are the peak crushing force, energy absorption, crush force efficiency (CFE) and specific energy absorption (SEA). The mild steel tube showed an increase in energy absorption with increased velocity of the striking plate. The overall crushing behavior of our models also showed a good correlation with experimental results.