Crashworthiness analysis of novel cactus-inspired multi-cell structures under axial crushing

This study introduces an innovative cactus-inspired bionic tube (CBT) designed for enhanced energy absorption, drawing inspiration from the ribbed structure of cacti. Validation is achieved through quasi-static crushing experiments, confirming the numerical model's accuracy. Numerical simulations investigate critical factors, including structural mass, wall thickness, loading velocity, and cross-sectional configuration, revealing that proper cross-section design can boost the specific energy absorption (SEA) of the original CBT by 15.84 %. Additionally, a theoretical model is developed to forecast the mean crushing force of CBTs. Comparative analysis demonstrates the superior crashworthiness of CBTs over contemporary bionic and widely adopted multicell structures with the same mass, achieving a remarkable SEA of 11.44 J/g—exceeding maximum and minimum SEA values of these structures by 28.3 % and 127.9 %, respectively. This research significantly contributes to advancing the development of high-performance bionic energy-absorbing structures for crash applications.