Oblique compression of square tubes with walls of different thicknesses

In this paper, thin-walled aluminum square tubes with three different types of wall thickness configurations were experimentally compressed at loading angles of 0 degrees, 10 degrees and 15 degrees, i.e., four walls with uniform thickness (St1t1), opposite walls with the same thickness (St1t2O and St2t1O), and opposite walls with different thicknesses (St1t2A and St2t1A). Numerical analysis was further conducted to explore the effects of wall thickness, thickness configuration and loading angle on the deformation mode and energy absorption of tubes. The results show that tubes with opposite walls of different thicknesses (St2t1A) present better energy absorption performance than tubes with uniform thickness under oblique loading. In addition, tubes with opposite walls of the same thickness (St1t2O) absorb the most amount of energy under oblique compression at larger angles (20 degrees and 30 degrees).

Automated summary

In this study, thin-walled aluminum square tubes with different wall thickness configurations were experimentally compressed at various loading angles. Numerical analysis was also conducted to investigate the effects of wall thickness, thickness configuration, and loading angle on the deformation mode and energy absorption of the tubes. The results showed that tubes with opposite walls of different thicknesses exhibited better energy absorption performance under oblique loading, while tubes with opposite walls of the same thickness absorbed the most energy at larger angles.