Abstract：Sandwich structure with lightweight cellular core shows high specific strength and excellent energy-absorption capacity. Tube is also widely used to dissipate energy. The combination of these two kinds of structures might exhibit better performance on load-carrying and energy-absorption capacity. In this paper, sandwich tube, which consists of two concentric aluminum tubes of different diameters separated by aluminum foam, is investigated. Experimental studies on the quasi-static lateral crushing of aluminum foam sandwich tubes with V-shaped constraint are carried out. The collapse history and load-displacement curves are obtained. Three different crushing patterns are observed in the experiments, including overall yield, core shear, and indentation. Deformation and failure mechanisms of aluminum foam sandwich tubes under lateral loading and constraint are revealed. The results show that, the thickness of the aluminum foam core of the sandwich tubes plays an important role on the competition of three crushing patterns. Different factors are considered, including the geometrical parameters of the aluminum foam sandwich tubes and the angle of the lateral V-shaped constraint, and their influences on load-carrying and energy-absorption capacity are analyzed. The results show that, the load-carrying and energy-absorption capacity of the aluminum foam sandwich tubes is higher than that of the corresponding empty tubes. The load-carrying and energy-absorption capacity of sandwich tubes increases with the increase of the outer tube diameter, but decreases with the increase of the inner tube diameter. The larger the angle of the lateral V-shaped constraint is，the better performance on load-carrying and energy-absorption capacity of aluminum foam sandwich tubes is. The present work is expected to provide some insights for researchers and engineers to design such structures for energy absorption applications.
2023, Vol. 44 
