Experimental and numerical study of circular, stainless thin tube energy absorber under axial impact by a control rod

•A circular, stainless thin tube energy absorber is designed to protect low strength graphite.•The local strain rate has significant effect on transient crushing force.•Stress concentrations are critical at the edge of the absorber–graphite contact surface.

In this study, several crashworthiness parameters of a circular, thin tube energy-absorbing structure, which is used in a high-temperature, gas-cooled reactor (HTR), are studied experimentally and numerically at various tube thicknesses, temperatures and impact velocities. The average crushing force is fundamentally dependent on strain hardening, strain rate hardening, and, particularly, temperature softening of the material. The peak forces during buckling are significantly affected by the local strain rate in the material and exhibit a decreasing trend in sequentially formed folds. Reducing the tube thickness is an effective method to weaken the average crushing force, but it does not weaken the maximum crushing force. Additionally, the stress concentration at the edge of the backplate–graphite contact surface is evaluated in detail to ensure the structural security of the energy absorber.