DefinePK

Abstract

Higher energy absorption efficiency and better crashworthiness performance are always the primary goals of researchers. This paper aims to study the bending collapse bahaviour of polygonal cross-sectional thin wall beam (TWB) under quasi statics bending. TWB are commonly used as energy absorbers in automobiles due to their light weight and high energy absorption capacity. TWB that is circular or square is frequently used inside vehicle doors. This beam deforms and absorbs the maximum impact energy in the event of a side collision than other components of doors. The crashworthiness of polygonal cross-section TWBs subjected to bending load was investigated using numerical simulations, and they were compared to the corresponding circular and square cross-section TWBs. In this work polygonal TWB ranging from the pentagon to the dodecagon are considered for analysis. To evaluate the bending collapse performance of beams, specific energy absorption and crash force efficiency crashworthiness indicators are used. Finite element simulations were conducted in ABAQUS explicit dynamic software, and all polygon plastic hinges and flattening patterns were examined. The results show that heptagon, octagon, and nonagon cross-section TWB outdo square and circular TWB in crashworthiness performance.