Hybrid corrugated members subjected to impact loading: Experimental and numerical investigation

Latest development in material and manufacturing technologies make it possible to increase the yield strength of steel to more than 1200 MPa. These steel grades, suitable for structures prone to extreme loadings, give potentials for considerable weight reduction and a cost-effective way to produce energy-efficient members. Having analysed the impact behaviour of corrugated members recently, this paper now investigates the performance of hybrid corrugated (HC) sections consisting of mild-steel corrugated plates and ultra-high strength (UHS) steel tubes. Three different types of trapezoidal corrugated plates are considered so as to examine the effect of geometrical corrugation parameters on the performance of entire member. Along with this, in order to study the contribution of UHS tubes in the performance of HC members under impact loading, their performance is also examined separately. In combined lateral impact and axial loading scenario, the tube is initially compressed axially; thus an indenter perpendicularly impacts the specimen at mid-span. An advanced numerical model in which nonlinear strain-rate dependent material behaviour of steel is taken into account is also developed by using ABAQUS/Explicit. Thus, the residual deformations, time histories, global lateral deflection, and energy absorptions are discussed and compared with those of experimental results.