Impact energy absorption of 6061 aluminum extruded tubes with different cross-sectional shapes

Abstract

The present article aims at evaluating experimentally impact absorption energies of an extruded 6061 aluminum tube for space frame and at investigating the effect of cross-sectional shape on the compressive deformation behavior under dynamic loading. The dynamic compressive test was conducted on extruded aluminum tube specimens, whose shape and thickness/width (or diameter) ratio are different, using a high performance servo-hydraulic machine. Asymmetric folds were formed mainly in the rectangular tube specimens, whereas symmetric folds were formed in the circular tube specimens. However, the fold shape tended to become symmetric as the thickness/width ratio increased, and absorption energy increased linearly within the scope of the present study. To improve impact absorption energy and maximum resistive force against compressive load of extruded aluminum tube for space frame, it is recommended to make the thickness/width ratio large enough and to design the circular cross-sectional shape in a way to promote the formation of symmetric folds instead of asymmetric ones. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.