Crush Analysis of External Inversion of Tubes with Variable Thickness Distribution
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Abstract
Axial crush tests on Uniform Thickness (UT) and Functionally Graded Thickness (FGT) tubes have been performed for external inversion process, and crashworthiness performance, and benefits of FGT tubes compared with their UT equivalents. Furthermore, in order to find detail verification about crush process of FGT tubes, Finite element (FE) models developed using explicit FE code under axial loading. Then, these FE models validated by experimental tests to ensure that they can accurately predict the responses of FGT inversion tubes. Our study shows that tube thickness distribution, die radius, and coefficient of friction between die and tube have great influence on the responses of FGT tubes inversion. The results give new design ideas to improve crashworthiness performance of inversion tubes.