DAMAGE PREDICTION OF AXIALLY CRUSHED CORRUGATED FRUSTA

ABSTRACT
Failure analysis of corrugated shells requires knowledge of the behavior of a shell
structure as it is crushed. Investigation of this problem is presented in this paper. The
axial crushing of a right circular axi-symmetric corrugated frusta subjected to quasistatic
compression is numerically studied. The finite element code ABAQUS/Explicit
was employed to predict the crushing behavior and the effect of different geometric
parameters required to enhance the energy absorption capability of corrugated frusta.
The main objectives are to establish the load-deflection response of the axi-symmetric
corrugated frusta and to describe the overall deformation of the frusta, since this data
greatly affect the energy absorbed by frustum models. The present simulation also
provides a simple demonstration of the capabilities of ABAQUS/Explicit for modeling
contact problems between deformable bodies and rigid, impenetrable surfaces. Results
showed that as the number of corrugations along a frustum generator increases, the
amount of absorbed energy significantly increases, however the collapse modes of
those corrugated frusta are qualitatively similar. The influence of varying the axial
length-to-thickness ratio and the corrugation angle on the crashworthiness performance
of frustum models are predicted and the obtained finite element results are depicted
and assessed.