Behavior of pre-compressed tubes subjected to local loads

•An experimental program carried out on tube under precompression and local loads.•The experimental results were compared with corresponding FE models.•The experimental results were compared with theoretical recommendations.•The precompression has great effect on absorbed energy of tubes against local load.•In dented area tensile and compression strains or combined of both can be detected.

Previous studies have been conducted on the structural behavior of dented tubular members. Nevertheless, there is insufficient experimental research on the deformation behavior of locally loaded tubes. In this paper, the behavior of six pre-compressed specimens under local lateral loads was investigated and experimentally evaluated. Relevant finite element simulations and theoretical predictions were considered for the comparison of critical loads, absorbed energy and modes of deformation. Derived results were aimed at using data for dented tubular members in full scale.