Light-weight thin-walled structures with patterned windows under axial crushing

Patterned windows are introduced to the thin-walled square tubes to reduce the weight while maintaining the mechanical property of the original tube. The topological pattern design is studied under axial compressing condition. Experimental results show that these windowed tubes have enhanced crushing performance over the conventional tube, with 63% as the maximum reduction in the initial peak load and 54% as the maximum increase in the specific energy absorption. Parametric study is conducted by using a finite element analysis to investigate the effect of the size of windows on tubes' collapse characteristics. Three collapse modes, the symmetric, extensional and diamond modes, are distinguished. Tubes collapsing in the diamond mode perform less well in terms of both the energy absorption and SEA, while those with the symmetric or extensional mode generally show an increase in SEA.

► Window-like holes are introduced to thin-walled square tubes.
► Windowed tubes are studied under the axial crushing experimentally.
► Windowed tube is with lighter weight than the conventional square tube.
► Initial peak-load is reduced while the total energy absorption is increased.