Design and energy absorption of a bioinspired tubular spine structure

To enhance the energy absorption performance of lightweight structures in aerospace applications, a bioinspired tubular spine (BTS) structure is proposed, drawing inspiration from the segmented geometry of hedgehog spines. An enhanced variant known as BTSB is developed through the integration of a bioinspired base. By adjusting the height-to-diameter ratio, two series of BTS configurations are designed: BTS-Hk and BTS-Dk. A comparative analysis with conventional hollow cylindrical tubes (HCT) is conducted using finite element simulations and quasi-static compression experiments. Under fixed height conditions, the results show that the specific energy absorption (SEA) of BTS improves by approximately 26% compared to that of HCT. Under fixed diameter conditions, BTS exhibits significantly delayed global deformation and superior energy absorption capacity. BTSB demonstrates a distinct multi-stage deformation mechanism during compression, enabling smooth and distributed energy dissipation. A high level of agreement between experimental and numerical results confirms the effectiveness of the bioinspired design, offering a approach for developing high-efficiency energy-absorbing structures.