Numerical simulation of the crushing of foam-filled aluminium tubes

A numerical study is presented in this paper to investigate the energy absorption of foam-filled aluminium tubes during a crushing. The post-buckling mode of the foam-tube structures has been successfully simulated. The predicted compressive load-displacement is in a good agreement with experiment results. The energy absorption ability of the composite structure due to plastic deformation in a crushing process is evaluated by comparison with the tube structure without foam. The results indicate that the energy absorption of a foam-filled tube structure is superior to the tube without foam