RESPONSE OF AXIALLY STACKED SQUARE TUBES TO AXIAL IMPACT LOADS

Authors

  • FABIO RONCHIETTO BISRU, UNIV CAPE TOWN
  • STEEVE CHUNG KIM YUEN BISRU, UNIV CAPE TOWN
  • GERALD NURICK BISRU, UNIV CAPE TOWN

Keywords:

PROGRESSIVE BUCKLING, BUCKLING TRANSITION, GLOBAL BENDING, AXIALLY STACKED, AXIAL IMPACT LOADING, TUBE CRUSHING, ENERGY ABSORBER

Abstract

ABSTRACT - THE CRUSHING AND ENERGY ABSORPTION CHARACTERISTICS OF THIN-WALLED SPECIMENS CONSISTING OF SINGLE AND AXIALLY STACKED MILD STEEL SQUARE TUBES ARE INVESTIGATED BY THE PERFORMANCE OF QUASI-STATIC AND DYNAMIC AXIAL CRUSHING TESTS. TWO TUBES ARE AXIALLY STACKED EITHER BY MEANS OF WELD OR A PLATE. WELDED SPECIMENS COMPRISE OF TWO TUBES OF EQUAL LENGTH AXIALLY STACKED ON EACH OTHER AND SEAM WELDED AROUND ALL FOUR SIDES. PLATE DIVIDED SPECIMENS CONSIST OF TWO TUBES OF EQUAL LENGTH AXIALLY STACKED WITH A RIGID MILD STEEL PLATE IN BETWEEN THEM. THE RIGID PLATE HAS A THICKNESS OF 10MM AND ACTS AS AN ELASTIC MEDIUM FOR ENERGY TO BE TRANSFERRED FROM THE TOP TUBE TO THE BOTTOM TUBE DURING AXIAL LOADING. ALL TUBES HAVE SQUARE CROSS-SECTIONS OF 50MMÃ50MM AND NOMINAL WALL THICKNESSES OF 1.6MM. THE LENGTHS OF THE TUBES RANGE FROM 250MM TO 1700MM ENCOMPASSING THE THREE MAIN MODES OF BUCKLING; NAMELY PROGRESSIVE, EULER AND THE TRANSITION MODE. THE GLOBAL SLENDERNESS OR LENGTH-TO-WIDTH RATIO (L/C) IS INVESTIGATED WITH REGARDS TO BUCKLING MODES. WELDED TUBES BEHAVE VERY SIMILARLY TO SINGLE TUBES. PLATE-DIVIDED SPECIMENS EXHIBIT TWO HIGH PEAK LOADS WITH A SLIGHTLY INCREASED MEAN CRUSH LOAD COMPARED TO SINGLE AND WELDED TUBES.

Author Biographies

FABIO RONCHIETTO, BISRU, UNIV CAPE TOWN

BISRU

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

STEEVE CHUNG KIM YUEN, BISRU, UNIV CAPE TOWN

RESEARCH OFFICER

BISRU

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

GERALD NURICK, BISRU, UNIV CAPE TOWN

PROFESSOR

BISRU

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Downloads

Additional Files

Published

2010-02-23

Issue

Vol. 6 No. 4 (2009)

Section

Articles

License

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

 

  1. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License [CC BY] that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
  2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
  3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).