Thin-Walled Structures 41 (2003) 91–107 www.elsevier.com/locate/tws Thin-walled structures as impact energy absorbers W. Abramowicz ∗ Warsaw University of Technology, Institute of Vehicles, Narbutta 84, Warsaw, Poland Abstract The key structural components of the majority of transportation vehicles are designed as thin-walled components. During a crash event, a number of structural components must sustain abnormal loadings in order to meet stringent integrity requirements. At the same time other components must dissipate impact energy in a controlled manner that limits the deceleration of a vehicle to a required safety limit. The present paper focuses on the crushing mechanics of thin-walled components. The analysis method is based on the Superfolding Element (SE) concept, which originates from experimentally observed folding patterns of crushed shell elements. The paper presents milestones of the underlying theory of plastic shells and basic design considerations that are coupled with the SE-based predictive techniques in a CAE software. The paper also presents basic examples of the design process of typical energy absorbing components. 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Crushing mechanics; Large plastic deformations of shells; Energy absorbing structures; Design for crash 1. Introduction The majority of structural components of sea, land and air vehicles are designed as thin-walled structures. During decades of growth of the transportation industry a variety of design rules and recommendations were established that help practicing engineers in the design of robust structures. Virtually all the early design codes deal with standard loading conditions encountered during the standard operation of a vehicle. In terms of structural analysis this means that the corresponding compu- ∗ Tel.: +48 22 723 8418; fax: +48 22 723 84 03. E-mail address: [email protected] (W. Abramowicz). 0263-8231/03/$ - see front matter 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/S0263-8231(02)00082-4
Thin-walled structures as impact energy absorbers
May 16, 2023
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