Quasi-static axial crushing of thin-walled tubes with a kite-shape rigid origami pattern: Numerical simulation

•A kite-shape rigid origami pattern is used to design a new thin-walled tube.•Two collapse modes are induced in the new origami tube by varying pattern geometry.•Reduction in peak force by over 50% is constantly achieved compared to square tubes.•Increase in specific energy absorption by 29.2% is obtained in the optimum design.

This paper presents a novel thin-walled tube design with a pre-folded kite-shape rigid origami pattern as an energy absorption device. Numerical simulation of the quasi-static axial crushing of the new device shows that a smooth and high reaction force curve can be achieved in comparison with those of conventional square tubes, with an increase of 29.2% in specific energy absorption and a reduction of 56.5% in initial peak force being obtained in the optimum case. A theoretical study of the energy absorption of the new device has also been conducted, which matches reasonably well with the numerical results.