Quasi-static axial crushing of hexagonal origami crash boxes as energy absorption devices

Thin-walled tubes are widely used as energy absorption devices for their low cost and high manufacturability. Introduction of the origami technique enables the tube to follow a pre-determined failure mode and to improve its energy absorption efficiency. This paper examines the energy absorption characteristics of the origami crash box under quasi-static axial crushing. Both experimental and numerical results show that the origami pattern develops a diamond-shaped mode, bringing a reduction in initial peak force and a significant increase in energy absorption compared to the conventional hexagonal tube. The sensitivity of its energy absorption performance to various parameters is studied, and it is shown to achieve 68.29% increase in the specific energy absorption and 13.91% reduction in the initial peak force in the optimal case. Furthermore, an analytical solution is presented for the energy absorption, which achieves reasonable agreement with the numerical results.