Numerical and experimental collapse analysis of tubular multi-member energy absorbers under lateral compression

In the paper, the problem of collapse load and energy dissipation capacity of tubular multi-member energy absorbers subject to lateral crushing load is presented. The method of analytical solution of the problem of initial collapse load and load capacity at failure both for single-member and multi-member absorbers is discussed. A numerical Finite Element (FE) model of the multi-member absorber is presented and the parametric study of the influence of different absorber parameters (number of members, thickness of tubes, configuration of tubes) upon the collapse load and energy dissipation capacity is carried out. Results of numerical calculations are compared with those obtained from the experiment conducted by the authors. Both numerical and experimental results are presented in the form of load-deformation diagrams and diagrams of deformation patterns. Some final conclusions concerning the usefulness of multi-member tubular absorbers and indications into further investigations are derived.