Crashworthiness performance of novel pre-deformation method applied square aluminum tubes

Abstract

In this study, the energy absorption capability and crashworthiness performance of Al6063-T4/T6 aluminum alloy square tubes subjected to axial crushing were investigated experimentally. To enhance the energy absorbed value, PVC foam and polyurethane springs were used as reinforcement materials. In addition, a novel pre-deformation process was applied to the tube inner surfaces by a specifically manufactured apparatus. All the tube walls were identically crushed by 15% of the wall thickness to achieve locally increased wall strength. Thus, the folding length was restricted by the local strength-increased regions. The experiment revealed that the foam filling enhanced the energy absorbed, in both T4 and T6 temper, more than the wall-crushing process. However, the wall-crushed tubes offered higher specific energy absorption compared to the foam-filled sample in the T6 temper. In T6 temper, the absorbed energy was increased 85% compared to the base tube while the increase in specific energy absorption value was 26%. According to the crashworthiness performance of the samples which contains foam filling and wall crushing together, it is concluded that using polyurethane spring contributed by far compared to that of the other samples.