Energy Absorption Properties of Circumferential Corrugated Square Gradient Hierarchical Multicellular Structures Under Axial Impact

In this study, a novel circumferentially corrugated square gradient hierarchical multicellular structure (CCSGHMS) featuring right‐angle bending fractals is presented, aiming at enhancing the crashworthiness of thin‐walled structures. The integration of corrugated and fractal hierarchical design concepts, coupled with numerical simulation techniques, enables a comparative analysis of thin‐walled structures with zeroth‐ to third‐order hierarchical cross sections. In these findings, it is indicated that the energy absorption and deformation modes of the thin‐walled structures are significantly improved with an increase in hierarchy. When compared to the zeroth‐order square tube, the third‐order CCSGHMS demonstrates a substantial enhancement in energy absorption and impact force efficiency, exhibiting improvements of 11.34 and 2.61 times, respectively. Additionally, the specific energy absorption can increase by as much as 342%. This enhancement is markedly greater than the increase observed in the initial peak crushing force. A geometrical parameter analysis is also conducted, revealing that structural parameters such as the number of wave crests ( N ), amplitude ( A ), wall thickness ( t ), and shape scaling factors (γ 1 , γ 2 ) significantly influence the impact resistance of circumferentially corrugated square gradient hierarchical tubes. Lastly, the crashworthiness of the proposed circumferentially corrugated square gradient hierarchical tube is compared with that of other multicellular tubes, demonstrating its superior performance.