Crashworthiness Analysis for Structural Stability and Dynamics

Abstract

In this paper, we fabricate human DNA and polar bear inspired thin-walled tube that tends to reduce the strength of decelerating force during impact, while escalating the amount of energy absorbed. The crashworthiness performance under axial impact is investigated using experimental analysis and non-linear finite element analysis (FEA). The investigation is conducted in three phases; the first phase consists of the design and fabrication of a novel bio-inspired tube (BIT) motivated by the most stable human DNA. Twelve BITs are created by filling cylindrical tubes into different positions of the BIT, which was inspired by the microstructural of polar bear hair. The second phase comprises the nonlinear FEA of energy-absorbed ability for different BITs under axial impact loading using LS-DYNA software, and then validated by the Simplified Super Folding Element (SSFE) theorem. In the third phase, Radial Basis Function (RBF) meta-models and Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm II (NSGA-II) are used for the multi-objective optimization design of BIT-11. The numerical simulation results are compared with the experimental results to confirm the crash behavior and energy absorption (EA) characteristics of the optimal structure over a base one. Based on the results, the suited configuration with required performance in crashworthiness is suggested, which should be incorporated into automobiles for safety consideration of passengers during an impact. The results show an increment of 49% in Specific Energy Absorption (SEA), suggesting the better choice of a particular tube over the base tube.