LATERAL CRUSHING OF SQUARE AND RECTANGULAR TUBES BY NON-ORTHOGONALLY PLACED NARROW WIDTH INDENTERS

A study of the collapse behaviour of square or rectangular tubes subjected to transverse loading by narrow width indenters, placed in orthogonal and non-orthogonal positions is presented. Experiments were conducted on as-received aluminium tubes, wherein the tubes were compressed in an unsymmetrical and a symmetric arrangement. Typical load-compression curves and histories of the deforming specimens are presented. Based on experimental observations, an analysis which considers the energy absorbed in stationary and rolling plastic hinges is developed for typical cases of the two modes of tube collapse. Computed results of the hinge locations, deforming tube geometry and load-compression curves are presented in each case. These results show good agreement with the experimental observations.