Large deformation of tubes under oblique lateral crushing

This paper presents a detailed investigation of short tubes under combined lateral compression and shearing by applying two parallel rigid platens in an oblique manner. The tubes were placed between the two parallel platens. The relative directions of the two platens were 0°, 15°, 30°, 45°, 60° and 75°, respectively; a value of 0° corresponds to pure compression while a 90° would be for pure shearing. Quasi-static tests were conducted by an INSTRON machine and the force-displacement curves were obtained. A finite element (FE) analysis was performed, which revealed more detailed deformation mechanisms. Subsequently, an analytical model is established for rigid, perfectly plastic material, which invokes stationary and travelling plastic hinges. The analytical results are in agreement with those obtained from the experiments and the FE analysis. The dynamic effect was also considered in the FE analysis.