Crash behavior of three dimensional thin-walled structures under combined loading

For the weight efficient and crashworthy design of the structural body of a transportation system, a thorough understanding of crushing behavior of thin-walled structural members such as spot-welded sheet metal beams or extruded aluminum beams must be gained. In the present thesis, the complex crushing process of three-dimensional thin-walled structures subject to combined loading is solved analytically and numerically. Also, several new design concepts of strengthening "S" shaped frame with regard to weight efficiency and energy absorption are proposed. The mechanics of biaxial bending collapse and the collapse under combined bending and compression of thin-walled prismatic member are formulated and initial and subsequent shrinking interaction curves between the loading components are constructed. All the analytical derivations show close correlations with the results of the accompanying finite element analysis. Based on these two complex crushing mechanisms, the analytical derivation of the crushing resistance of three-dimensional "S" shaped frame is presented. Extensive study on the strengthening of the three-dimensional "S" shaped frame is performed with two types of internal reinforcing member, diagonally positioned sheet metal stiffener and ultralight metallic foam-filler. The optimization process involving varying the cross-sectional shape and the type of reinforcing member for both aluminum-extruded member and spot-welded hat-type cross-section member is developed.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Ocean Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2001

Author dc:creator

• Kim, Heung-Soo, 1971-

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Tomasz Wierzbicki.

• Ocean Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/8711

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/8711