Experimental study on crashworthiness of tailor-welded blank (TWB) thin-walled high-strength steel (HSS) tubular structures

• The effects of different TWB parameters, such as weld line locations and material combinations on crushing characteristics are studied.
• Such crushing characteristics as specific energy absorption, average crush force, peak force are also evaluated.
• The results exhibited the advantages of TWBs with a noticeable improvement in the peak force and energy absorption.

This paper aims to investigate the crushing behaviors of tailor-welded blank (TWB) thin-walled structures. A series of TWB high-strength steel (HSS) square tubes with different weld line locations is used to perform the crushing tests for evaluating the effects of different TWB parameters, such as weld line locations and material combinations, on crushing characteristics. These TWB specimens are fabricated through the laser welding process to ensure sufficiently narrow weld line. In the study, the center edge of TWB square specimens is not welded so that such special TWB structures have open cross section. The crushing test results exhibit excellent repeatability. The collapse modes and force–displacement relationships are compared with each other. It is found that the crushing behaviors of different material combinations are fairly significant for a given weld line location. Such key crushing characteristics as specific energy absorption (SEA), average crush force (Favg), peak force (Fmax) are also evaluated for understanding crashworthiness of these TWB structures. The experimental results provide us with some insightful guidance to crashworthiness design of TWB thin-walled HSS structures.