Crashworthiness assessment of square aluminum extrusions considering the damage evolution

Combining the pivotal tests and FEM technology, crashworthiness of aluminum extrusions was studied for an automobile safety plan. Experiments under static axial loading conditions were carried out for square thin-walled tubes with different thicknesses, section dimensions, with various impact velocities were conducted as well. Crush behavior of this structure under axial static and dynamic loads was studied. FEM code was used for crash analysis, which gave deformation and load prediction. Geometric imperfection and damage model were introduced to simulation. Results show that experiment and numerical model have good agreement with each other.