Dynamic Crushing Behaviour of Box Section Steel Beams

Abstract

As a popular energy absorber, steel box-sectional beams are widely used in various engineering structures. In this paper, the dynamic crushing behaviours of steel beams with box cross sections are investigated and outlined. Systematic parametric studies were conducted in order to study the effect of material properties, including strain hardening ratio and strain rate effect, length of the beam, and initial impact velocity on the crushing behaviours of the steel beams. A series of numerical models were constructed with various sets of parameters and used for crashworthiness analyses. Maximum crushing force, mean force, and specific energy absorption were recorded after analyses and compared to reveal the influences of parameters. Empirical equations were also developed based on the analyses results using nonlinear regression method, which can predict the effects of the initial impact velocity on the peak crushing forces of steel beams with box sections.