Design and optimization of bioinspired multicell tubes for energy absorption under axial and oblique loading

In this research, a new series of bioinspired multicell tubes was designed based on the cross-sectional patterns of square bamboo and optimized to enhance energy absorption under multiple loads. A data-driven model was proposed to efficiently design and optimize structures with improved energy absorption performance under axial and oblique crushing scenarios simultaneously. Furthermore, the influence of design parameters on energy absorption performance was extensively investigated. Results demonstrated that the energy absorption performance of the optimized structures under axial and oblique loads was considerably improved compared with the performance of the original and reference tubes. Under axial load, the highest enhancements in specific energy absorption (SEA) and crush force efficiency (CFE) were 133.58 % and 20.21 %, respectively. Under oblique load, the improvements in SEA and CFE were 108.78 % and 23.65 %, respectively. This study introduced an efficient data-driven model for designing and optimizing energy absorption structures under multiple loads. This optimized structure shows great potential for use in energy absorption devices.