Experimental and numerical study of X-type energy dissipation device under impact loads

To obtain the optimal size and shape of X-type energy dissipation device, 20 specimens were tested using a drop hammer impact test machine, then the finite element model was established by using the software LS-DYNA. The dynamic responses of X-type energy dissipation device including failure mode, impact force, displacement and energy absorption were obtained and analyzed with emphasis on the effect of the height reduction parameter a, length reduction coefficient b and high span ratio c. The effectiveness of the finite element model is verified by comparing the simulation results with the experimental results. The finite element model is then used to optimize the X-type energy dissipation device. The height reduction parameter a and high span ratio c were taken as the optimization parameters, and the strain uniformity was taken as the target for improvement. Through regression analysis, the formulas of height reduction parameter a, height span ratio c and strain uniformity degree are derived. After four levels of optimizations, the optimized shape of the X-type energy dissipation device is ob-tained, and its energy dissipation performance is significantly improved compared with that of the traditional X -type energy dissipation device.