A Novel Origami Crash Box With Varying Profiles

Crash boxes in automobiles are often made from thin-walled tubes. They are designed to absorb energy when subjected to axial crushing. In this paper we present a novel crash box known as the origami crash box. It is produced by pre-folding the surface of a thin-walled tube according to a developable origami pattern. The pre-folded surface serves both as a type of geometric imperfection to lower the initial peak force, and as a mode inducer to trigger a collapse mode that is more efficient in terms of energy absorption. Numerical simulation of quasi-static axial crushing of the origami crash box has shown that a new collapse mode deemed the completed diamond mode can be triggered in tubes with square, rectangular, and polygonal cross sections and tapered shapes, leading to both a substantial gain in overall energy absorption, while at the same time, a reduction in initial peak force.