Truncated Conical Shells as Absorbers of Impact Force

Abstract

In this dissertation, energy absorption capabilities of steel-based truncated conical shells with low base angle and end caps are investigated under axial dynamic loading. The numerical models of absorber were placed between two rigid plates to simulate a crush box around the absorber. In order to investigate the effect of the design parameters on the energy absorption of the conical shells, three different base conical angle (20, 25 and 30), four different impact velocity (5m/s, 10m/s, 20m/s, 30m/s), four different absorber thickness (4mm, 6mm, 8mm, 10mm) and several impact mass values were analyzed. Numerical analyses were performed by FEM software Abaqus. The simulation results were compared by means of several performance parameters such as peak reaction force Fp, mean reaction force Fm, absorbed energy EA specific energy absorption (SEA), crash force efficiency (CFE) and dynamic amplification factor (DAF). In this dissertation, also some guidelines on the design of a truncated conical shell with low base conical angle as an energy absorber are presented.