An Experimental Study of Square Aluminium Tubes with Honeycomb Core Subjected to Quasi-Static Compressive Loads

Abstract

Thin-walled honeycombs have been extensively investigated and they are often used as sandwich panels to enhance the energy absorption in many applications including vehicles. In this study, axial compressive tests at three different velocities (3, 30 and 300 mm/min, respectively) by using an MTS machine were conducted with both empty and hybrid aluminium tubes filled with aluminium honeycomb. The aim of this work is to study the contribution of aluminium honeycomb in square hybrid tubes in terms of the deformation mode and energy absorption. Square aluminium tubes made of AA 6060-T5 with two different side lengths, 40 and 50 mm, were used. Two types of honeycombs made of AA 5052 with different cell wall thicknesses were used in this study. The force and displacement of the tubes were recorded during the test. The specific energy absorption (SEA) of honeycomb-filled tubes was compared with the sum of the SEA of an empty tube and honeycomb. It was noticed that the SEA of the hybrid tubes depended on the honeycomb density and the loading velocity within the velocity range studied.