Abstract
This paper reviews analytical models proposed by Abramowicz et al.[1, 2] and Stefan et al.[3] for the axial crushing of metallic tubular structures with square and circular cross-sections. First, a database of experiments for square and circular tubes was created based on the literature. Subsequently, the predictions obtained using these analytical models were compared against the database of experiments to determine the accuracy of these analytical models. The database of experiments was also compared against some results generated using Finite-Element Method (FEM). Furthermore, the sensitivity of the analytical models to various material and geometrical parameters was studied to determine the influence of these parameters on the mean crushing force.
Both models were found to be highly sensitive to the thickness of the tubular structures. It was observed that the models proposed by Abramowicz et al.[1, 2] showed better agreement with experimental results, although an over-prediction was observed for square tubular structures made of materials with a significant difference between the values of yield and ultimate stress. The model proposed by Stefan et al.[3] slightly over-predicted for square tubes and showed reasonable accuracy for circular tubes.
