Numerical and Experimental Investigation of Quasi-Static Crushing Behaviors of Steel Tubular Structures

• Published in: Materials Vol. 15; no. 6; p. 2107
• Main Authors: Park, Young Il, Cho, Jin-Seong, Kim, Jeong-Hwan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 12.03.2022; MDPI
• Subjects: Behavior; Boundary conditions; Carbon steel; Coefficient of friction; Composite materials; Computer simulation; Crushing; Energy; Finite element method; Load; Mathematical models; nonlinear finite element simulations; Nonlinearity; Numerical analysis; Parameter sensitivity; quasi-static crushing test; Series (mathematics); Simulation; Steel tubes; steel tubular structure; quasi-static crushing test; nonlinear finite element simulations; steel tubular structure
• ISSN: 1996-1944; 1996-1944
• DOI: 10.3390/ma15062107

In this study, a numerical and experimental investigation of the quasi-static crushing behavior of steel tubular structures was conducted. As the crushing failure behavior involves a high level of nonlinearity for the numerical simulations, these were compared with previous experimental works, including crushing tests of steel square tubes to calibrate the numerical results. Six parameters for the numerical simulations, namely (1) loading boundary condition, (2) geometrical imperfection, (3) friction coefficient, (4) element size, (5) element type, and (6) material nonlinearity model, were examined using a series of finite element analyses. Through the sensitivity study for each parameter, the deformation and crushing load of the steel tube were investigated, and the value that best matched the experimental results was selected. The results of the numerical analysis for the determined model were compared with the experimental results. Finally, the authors provided recommendations that should be considered when performing nonlinear finite element simulations of crushing failure events.