Numerical analysis of origami-ending crash tubes

Abstract A crash tube is an essential component in assuring the safety of a vehicle. In a low-speed accident, crash tubes avoid damage to passengers and goods. They are mounted at the vehicle's front end and are designed to disperse kinetic energy and lessen impact loads during a collision. A novel origami-ending crash tube (OET) is presented in this study. FEA tool ABAQUS EXPLICIT was used for validation, design, and simulation studies. The dihedral angle and thickness of the tube were varied to optimize the crashworthiness. Crashworthiness measures, like mean force, specific energy absorbed, and peak force, were used to conduct comparative investigations. A dihedral angle of 1650 was found to optimize all the crashworthiness parameters, and a thickness of 2mm was found to be significant for better crashworthiness of the tube. OETs are suitable for engineering applications due to substantial improvements in the structure's crashworthiness.