Internally nested circular tube system subjected to lateral impact loading

• A theoretical model is proposed for nested tube systems under impact loading.
• The crushing behavior of nested tube systems is obtained.
• Force–time curves of nested tube systems exhibit a staircase pattern.
• Experimental and numerical results verify the accuracy of the theoretical model.

The paper presents a theoretical, numerical and experimental investigation into the dynamic behavior of internally nested tube systems subjected to lateral impact loading. A theoretical model based on rigid, perfectly plastic material idealization is proposed, in which the effects of strain-hardening and strain-rate are considered. The analytical solutions to the crushing behavior of nested tube systems are obtained. Numerical simulations based on finite element method using the explicit code LS-DYNA and experiments are performed and the response of force and displacement versus time impacted by a drop hammer are compared with the theoretical predictions, resulting in good agreement.