Energy Capacity of Vehicle Structure under Oblique Load 2000-05-0199

The collapse behavior of various vehicle components - square, rectangular, taper thin-walled column under oblique load is analyzed. In oblique collapse, there are 3 typical regions of oblique load angle: axial collapse dominant region, bending collapse dominant region and transition region. Parameter studies are performed about thickness, width and length of the square column. Dimensionless mean crushing load is employed to generalize the varied data from parameter studies using the analytical axial and bending collapse equations. As a result, the formulation for the mean crushing load is developed in terms of geometrical parameters and the oblique load angle. The critical load angle is defined to qualify the transition region and expressed as a function of the length-width ratio. From the further studies about rectangular column, the critical load angle concerns only with length and width, not depth. About tapered column, the formulation for the dimensionless critical load angle is developed in terms of taper angle and length-minimum width ratio.