Crashworthiness Optimization a Novel Hexagonal Honeycomb Crash Box Under Crushing Test – A Numerical Study

The crash box becomes a crucial component of the vehicle structure, special designed for energy-absorbing during collisions. This study aims to evaluate the performance of honeycomb structures in crash boxes and to investigate the deformation characteristics, energy absorption, and reaction force during crash tests. In this work, a novel crash box based on the hexagonal honeycomb structure with variations in the addition of circles at each hexagonal corner is proposed. The research configurations simulate a crushing test on the traditional honeycomb structure and variations CH 1, CH 2, CH 3 and CH 4. The honeycomb model was analyszed using different impactor velocity of 3 m/s and 4 m/s, with a mass of 500 kg. The result shows that increasing the size of the circle structures at each hexagonal honeycomb corner can increase crash energy absorption (EA). The CH 3 and CH 4 crash box structures offer the most increases in EA for each crash velocity than the traditional honeycomb. Higher impact velocities activate more stable progressive folding mechanisms in the honeycomb, thereby enhancing deformation efficiency during impact. The CH4 configuration exhibits higher SEA and MCF while maintaining a stable PCF, reflecting enhanced crashworthiness performance. This improvement is associated with progressive local buckling, which enables controlled and stable energy dissipation during impact. At a velocity of 3 m/s, the deformation pattern is consistent with previously reported studies, where the initial fold or fracture initiates in the middle of the honeycomb structure.