IN-PLANE ENERGY ABSORPTION AND DEFORMATION PATTERNS OF RE-ENTRANT AUXETIC CRASH BOX

Fuel efficiency and occupant safety are among the most critical concerns in the automotive industry. Motivated by the significance of this field, this research aims to enhance the crashworthiness of vehicle crash absorbers. This study examines the crush response of a re-entrant auxetic square tube under quasi-static compressive loading. Re-entrant auxetic-filled tubes are compared with an empty square tube, with the auxetic structures fabricated using a 3D printing technique. Experimental and simulation results demonstrate strong agreement, confirming that the addition of re-entrant auxetic structures significantly improves the crashworthiness performance of the crash tube compared to an empty tube. By analyzing the experimental energy absorption (EA) values, the inclusion of a re-entrant auxetic square tube resulted in a 53.047% increase in energy absorption compared to the empty tube.