Quasi-static crushing of the S-shaped square tube Abaqus

Product Overview

In this example, we simulate the quasi-static crushing of an S-shaped square tube using the Abaqus software.

The tube is made of mild steel. Its cross-section is square-like, while the overall geometry is in the form of an S-shaped tube. A compressive load is applied to the top of the tube, causing progressive deformation and crushing.

The upper end of the tube is connected to a rigid loading surface, while the lower end is constrained. The rigid surface is used to apply the compressive displacement to the tube during the crushing simulation.

Quasi-Static Loading

Since this is a quasi-static crushing problem, the axial compressive load is applied at a sufficiently low speed so that the response of the structure can be considered quasi-static.

In the model, a slow loading velocity is used to apply the compression to the top of the tube and to obtain the crushing response without introducing significant dynamic effects.

Crushing Behavior

During the crushing process, the S-shaped square tube undergoes large deformation and progressive plastic collapse under axial compression.

As the compressive displacement increases, plastic deformation develops mainly in the curved and straight portions of the tube. The deformation progressively develops into plastic folding and localized deformation around the plastic hinge regions.

Force-Displacement Diagram

The numerical force-displacement response is compared with the corresponding experimental results reported in the reference study.

At the beginning of the loading process, the reaction force increases rapidly with increasing displacement, corresponding to the elastic deformation stage. As the material reaches its yield point, plastic collapse begins and the crushing deformation develops progressively.

After the onset of plastic collapse, the reaction force decreases as the displacement continues to increase. The numerical and experimental results show reasonable agreement in the overall load-displacement response, indicating that the Abaqus model captures the main characteristics of the crushing behavior observed in the experiments.

The force-displacement diagram obtained from Abaqus are compared with the experimental results to evaluate the accuracy of the numerical model.

Validation

This project has been validated by comparing the results obtained from the Abaqus software with the results reported in the reference article.

The comparison demonstrates that the numerical model can reproduce the crushing response of the S-shaped square tube with good agreement with the reported experimental behavior.

Reference

This project is based on a research article dealing with the crushing behavior of the S-shaped square tube. The numerical results are compared with the reported experimental results for validation.

What You Will Learn

• How to model an S-shaped square tube in Abaqus.
• How to simulate quasi-static crushing of a steel tube.
• How to define the material behavior of milled steel.
• How to use true stress-strain data for plastic material definition.
• How to apply slow compressive loading in a quasi-static problem.
• How to investigate the crushing deformation of the tube.
• How to obtain the force-displacement response from Abaqus.
• How to compare Abaqus results with experimental results.
• How to validate a numerical model using published research results.

Key Features

• Quasi-static crushing simulation in Abaqus.
• S-shaped square tube geometry.
• Milled steel material.
• Compressive loading.
• Progressive crushing and deformation analysis.
• True stress-strain material data.
• Force-displacement diagram.
• Comparison with experimental results.
• Validation against a research article.
• Complete Abaqus model files.
• Step-by-step video tutorial.