Experimental and numerical investigation of energy absorption capability of holed thin-walled circular aluminum tubes under axial compression loading

Perforated thin-walled tubes have always been the focus of researchers as an appropriate energy absorption alternative. In this research, the energy absorption capability of perforated thin-walled tubes with irregular pattern has been compared with thin-walled tubes without holes and regular holes. In this regard, cylindrical thin-walled tubes made of aluminum alloy 6061 have been used under axial loading. At first, the process was modeled using the finite element simulation, and the accuracy of the numerical results was verified using the experimental results. Then, using Taguchi's L16 orthogonal array, the effect of geometrical parameters on the energy-to-weight ratio of the perforated thin-walled tubes with irregular pattern was investigated. Afterward, the optimal arrangement was obtained to achieve the maximum energy-to-weight ratio using the signal-to-noise analysis. Finally, experimental tests were carried out on the tube with the optimal arrangement, the tube without holes and the tube with regular holes. By comparing the energy absorption ability of various tubes, it was found that with the optimal arrangement, the energy-to-weight ratio increases by 19 and 26%, respectively, compared to the non-perforated and regular perforated tubes. Also, using the new proposed pattern, the initial force to average force is reduced by 17 and 19%, respectively, compared to the non-perforated and regular perforated samples.