Axial crushing behaviors of multi-cell tubes with triangular lattices

•Failure modes and energy absorptions of multi-cell lattice tubes were revealed.•Lattice tubes have mean crushing forces 60–103% higher than single-cell tubes.•Plastic models were suggested to predict the mean crushing forces.•Multi-cell mechanisms include shortened wavelength and flange interactions.

To enhance the energy absorbing ability of thin-walled structures, multi-cell tubes with triangular and Kagome lattices were designed and manufactured. Quasi-static axial compression experiments were carried out to reveal the progressive collapse mode and folding mechanism of thin-walled multi-cell tubes. Combining with the experiments, deformation styles were revealed and classical plastic models were suggested to predict the mean crushing forces of multi-cell tubes. Compared with anti-crushing behaviors of single-cell tubes, multi-cell lattice tubes have comparable peak loads while much greater mean crushing forces, which indicates that multi-cell lattice tubes are more weight efficient in energy absorption.