Energy absorbing characteristics of pressurized filled tubes under quasi-static loading

Abstract

This study investigated the crashworthiness performance of tubes filled simultaneously with cellular structures and pressurized air under quasi-static loading by considering the pressure, tube wall thickness, and deformation modes. The compression tests revealed an improvement in the crushing force response to the effects of the filler materials in the tube gap. The absorbed total energy increased by 2 and 3.8 times for pressurized and filled tubes concerning the empty tubes, respectively. It has been demonstrated that the interface effects between the cellular structure and the tube wall play a critical role in the pressure-filled tube’s deformation mode and energy absorption capacity.