Bending collapse and energy absorption of conventional and insert-reinforced closed-hat-section beams / Hafizan Hashim

Closed-hat-sections are a generic form of structural profiles used in vehicular structures. The bending behavior of a closed-hat-section beam is largely dependent on its section shape, dimension, and material. Despite being used widely in many applications, extensive study on design development and research information are still lacking. Introducing the insert-reinforcement into conventional design of closed-hat-section beam offers possibility of improving the bending resistant as well as energy absorption performance such as SEA, CFE, and DAF for energy absorber application. The primary aim of this thesis was to generate research and design information on the collapse mechanism, impact, and energy absorption characteristics of conventional and insert-reinforced closed-hat-section beams in order to facilitate their application in energy absorbing systems. A series of validation procedures of FE models through experiment and remodel were described. The validated FE models were used in parametric study of quasi-static and impact bending. To further analyze their collapse mechanism and analytical solution, two established analytical models for pure bending and one for three-point bending condition were modified and validated via FE simulation. Both analytical models for pure bending were derived using energy method and the three-point bending was derived using force-moment equilibrium method…