Study of multi-cell thin-walled tube with various configuration under lateral loading

Abstract Thin-walled structure is one of the common structures that is widely used as an energy absorber due to inexpensive, high availability and lightweight. Moreover, the multi-cell structure is known as a useful method to elevate the effectiveness of thin-walled structures in crashworthiness. Energy absorber performance of multi-cell thin-walled tube structure is known to be greater than the single thin-walled tube. This is due to the limitation of plastic hinge zones of single tube during lateral loading condition. This paper presents the effect of multi-cell configuration on energy absorption responses under lateral loading condition. Experiment and numerical approach were used in this research. The validation of finite element model (FEM) was conducted by comparing the load-displacement responses and deformation mode of a quasi-static compression test. Multi-cell configuration study was performed to identify the energy absorption performance of multi-cell thin-walled tube with different arrangements. The results reveal that an increasing number of cells will increase the energy absorption capacity of multi-cell structure. The additional number of tube cells contribute to the increases of the contact joint between each tube consequently this generate additional permanent plastic-hinges.