Evaluation of dynamic collapse in thin-walled composite members

Many of steel thin wall closed section members are used by automobile industry. The local buckling of these elements that occur under compressive stress remains the main technological problem. To improve the performance of the members, the filling the inside of closed section with the low-density foaming material are usually used. In this study, we present the usefulness of axial compression and 3-point bending tests for the composite members filled with two kinds of epoxy resin. The difference between composite member and thin-walled member was investigated concerning their elastic and plastic collapse characteristics while tested with various deformation velocities. The adherent strength between thin-walled member and foaming material, and filling effect of the foaming material in the energy absorption characteristics was clarified.