Energy absorption characteristics of axially varying thickness lateral corrugated tubes under axial impact loading

A new type of axially varying thickness lateral corrugated tube (AVTLCT) is proposed. The crashworthiness of the AVTLCT under axial impact has been systematically studied. The studies show that the initial peak crushing force ( PCF ) increases as the amplitude increases and axial variation coefficient ( k ) decreases. The starting positions of all folds of the AVTLCT with axial variation coefficient k >0 are near the impact end. As the number of corrugations increases, the number of folds decreases and the fluctuation of the AVTLCT increases during the impact. Compared with the AVTLCT with k = 0 , the AVTLCT with k >0 has absolute advantages in the two key crashworthiness indicators, PCF and crush force efficiency ( CFE ). PCF is reduced by up to 44.53%, and CFE is increased by up to 81.72%. Finally, a surrogate model of the AVTLCT is constructed using the radial basis function approximation, and the interactive effects of structural parameters on crashworthiness indicators are analyzed. The nondominated sorting genetic algorithm II is used to perform multiobjective optimization under unconstrained and constrained conditions. • A new type of axially varying thickness lateral corrugated tube (AVTLCT) is proposed. • The crashworthiness of AVTLCT under axial impact is systematically studied. • Multi-objective optimizations of AVTLCT under different constrained conditions are performed.