Optimum design and construction of cylindrical energy absorber under internal pressure using time evolutionary optimization algorithm

Energy absorbers are used to absorb the kinetic energy of objects and convert it into another form, the most important of which are cylinder thin-walled tubes. In a thin-walled cylindrical absorber, the three parameters of diameter, thickness, and length affect the amount of energy absorption. In this research, to obtain the necessary information for designing an inexpensive energy absorber with high absorption capability, thin-walled cylinders with air pressure inside which the air inside condenses when collapsing have been investigated. In the current study, dynamic and axial loadings were chosen to have a higher match with reality. The simulation and analysis of the problem have been done by the finite element method and by applying Johnson-Cook coefficients to model the material's behavior. In the following, the graph of the total work done with time is extracted as the output of the problem, and its correctness has been proved by experimental tests. Then, different samples were modeled and based on them, the method of design of the experiment was applied. Using the results of the variance analysis, the absorber's optimal parameters have been designed by using the time evolutionary optimization algorithm. The results show that it is possible to reduce the weight of the absorber by creating internal density without lowering the absorbency.