Numerical and experimental investigations of the crushing behavior of thin-walled multi-cellular steel cylinders

The quasi-static axial crushing behavior of an all-metal corrugated sandwich cylindrical shell is investigated experimentally and numerically. The structure consists of inner and outer thin-walled steel shells connected by a trapezoidal corrugated steel core, fabricated using a low-cost method without adhesives. Quasi-static compression tests were conducted on three ST37 steel specimens and validated using finite element simulations accounting for material plasticity and large deformations. The results show that the corrugated sandwich cylindrical shells deform through stable progressive local buckling. Compared with monolithic cylinders of similar mass, the proposed design exhibits significantly higher energy absorption, reaching up to approximately 1.5 times improvement. Parametric analyses reveal that increasing the number of corrugated units and optimizing the core-to-shell thickness ratio markedly enhance crushing efficiency while reducing peak crushing force. The proposed all-metal corrugated sandwich cylindrical shell provides an efficient, manufacturable solution for lightweight energy-absorbing structures in automotive, marine, and protective engineering applications.