Finite element modeling and analysis of crashworthiness performance of bioinspired thin-walled tapered tubular structures

In the present study, virtual experimentation was carried out to assess the crashworthiness performance of various bio-inspired single cell tapered tubular structures. A virtual dynamic impact test was carried out to calculate the total energy absorbed by the system, mean crushing force experienced by the system, crush force efficiency and stroke efficiency of the structure and total efficiency of the system to understand the crumpling behavior of the considered structures. Due to the increased number of edges in the spider web inspired decagonal single cell thin walled taper tube structure, there were more number of folds in this structure which resulted in early initiation of the collapse of decagonal tapered structure as compared to the other two structures. The obtained finite element results showed that a decrease in the number of edges of the profile induced lower plastic work on the structure, which resulted in a lower stroke efficiency of the structure. Additionally, due to progressive collapse of the honeycomb inspired hexagonal structure, it exhibited a maximum displacement of ~ 96.4 mm, which resulted in poor stoke efficiency of 39.7%. While the conical and decagonal shaped structures displayed relatively higher stroke efficiency of 43.6% and 43.5%, respectively. Owing to the progressive axisymmetric mode of collapse, decagonal single cell thin walled taper tube structure displayed better total energy absorbing efficiency, hence it can be used in crumple zone of an automobile’s frame design.