Comparative analysis of energy absorption capacity of simple and multi-cell thin-walled tubes with triangular, square, hexagonal and octagonal sections

•Multi-cell sections have greater values of SAE in comparison with simple sections.•Type I multi-cell sections, mc-1, are more efficient than type II, mc-2.•Hexagon and octagon mc-1 sections have 120% and 118% more SAE than simple triangular, respectively.

Energy must dissipate during a collision to prevent damage and injury. To reduce loss from collision, energy absorbers are used that dissipate energy upon deformation and folding to prevent damage to critical parts of a structure. In this paper, simple and multi-cell thin-walled tubes made from aluminum with triangular, square, hexagonal and octagonal sections were subjected to quasi-static loading. The experimental results were then compared with numerical simulations. The results showed that the energy absorption capacity of multi-cell sections is greater than for that of simple sections. Also, hexagonal and octagonal sections in a multi-cell configuration absorbed the greatest amounts of energy per unit of mass.