ADJUSTABLE CIRCULAR TUBE ENERGY ABSORPTION/STORAGE MECHANISM BASED ON PAPER-CUT STRUCTURE

Abstract

An adjustable circular tube energy absorption/storage mechanism based on a paper-cut structure is disclosed according to the present application, which belongs to the technical field of advanced intelligent structure. The mechanism is based on the conventional circular tube and obtained by partially cutting the circular tube. The direction of the slits is along the axial direction of the circular tube. Multiple circular tubes may be arrayed in a specific way according to the actual application requirements. When the circular tube is subjected to axial impact force, the cutting section of the circular tube may deform in a specific direction, the circular tube realizes structural energy absorption and energy storage through local buckling deformation, and after the external force is removed, the circular tube recovers from the deformation and releases stored energy.

Claims

1. An adjustable circular tube energy absorption/storage mechanism based on a paper-cut structure, comprising: at least one circular tube, wherein a plurality of paper-cut sections are arranged on each circular tube, uncut sections are sections between adjacent paper-cut sections, and sections between the paper-cut sections located at two ends and the two ends of each circular tube; wherein each paper-cut section is provided with at least two slits on a side wall of each circular tube, and two ends of the at least two slits are respectively terminated in two planes perpendicular to an axial direction of the corresponding circular tube; wherein the at least two slits are arranged circumferentially around the corresponding circular tube at equal spacing, and a tube wall between adjacent slits forms a support arm; wherein each circular tube is made of superelastic material and elastic material which is able to recover from deformation after compression; wherein each circular tube realizes structural energy absorption and energy storage through local buckling deformation, and after an external force is removed, each circular tube recovers from the deformation and releases stored energy; wherein structural compression deformation is controlled by adjusting the number of support arms of each paper-cut section, the height of each paper-cut section and the number of paper-cut sections of each circular tube, so as to control a force-displacement response curve of each circular tube.

2. The adjustable circular tube energy absorption/storage mechanism based on a paper-cut structure according to claim 1, wherein the circular tube is made of polypropylene or thermoplastic polyurethane elastomer.

3. The adjustable circular tube energy absorption/storage mechanism based on a paper-cut structure according to claim 1, wherein a central angle corresponding to each paper-cut section in a circumferential direction is less than 90 degrees and greater than or equal to 0 degrees.

4. The adjustable circular tube energy absorption/storage mechanism based on a paper-cut structure according to claim 1, comprising a plurality of circular tubes arranged in an array, wherein the array is linear, triangular or square.

5. The adjustable circular tube energy absorption/storage mechanism based on a paper-cut structure according to claim 2, comprising a plurality of circular tubes arranged in an array, wherein the array is linear, triangular or square.

6. The adjustable circular tube energy absorption/storage mechanism based on a paper-cut structure according to claim 3, comprising a plurality of circular tubes arranged in an array, wherein the array is linear, triangular or square.

7. The adjustable circular tube energy absorption/storage mechanism based on a paper-cut structure according to claim 4, wherein in the array, positions of the paper-cut sections in different circular tubes are the same, or the paper-cut sections are arranged in staggered rows.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0016] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an adjustable circular tube energy absorption/storage mechanism based on a paper-cut structure of the present application.

[0017] FIG. 2 is a numerical simulation diagram of the deformation, under different strains, of the adjustable circular tube energy absorption/storage mechanism based on a paper-cut structure according to a first embodiment.

[0018] FIG. 3 is a force-displacement response curve of the adjustable circular tube energy absorption/storage mechanism based on a paper-cut structure according to the first embodiment under parameter (m) of different values.

[0019] FIG. 4 is a numerical simulation diagram of deformation at different stages of the adjustable circular tube energy absorption/storage mechanism based on a paper-cut structure according to the first embodiment when the parameter (m)=4.

[0020] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a square array of the adjustable circular tube energy absorption/storage mechanisms based on a paper-cut structure according to a second embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0021] As shown in FIG. 1, in this structure, a circular tube with a uniform diameter D, a wall thickness t and a length L is partially cut, and the circular tube is divided into three sections (two uncut sections and one paper-cut section) by cutting. As shown in FIG. 1, the middle cutting part is a circular tube with a length L0, that is, the paper-cut section; and the uncut sections are circular tubes with lengths L1 and L2. The paper-cut section is cut along the axial direction between two planes perpendicular to the axial direction (the two planes here refer to the two planes at the upper and lower ends of the middle circular tube L0 in FIG. 1), and the cutting height is L0. The paper-cut section is cut into (n) support arms, the central angle corresponding to one support arm is θ, and the cutting is performed at equal spacing. That is, the angle θ shown in the figure is a constant value. The expanded view of the circular tube is shown on the left side of FIG. 1. The direction of the slits on the paper-cut section is parallel to the axial direction of the circular tube. Through the above cutting method, the paper-cut section can be divided into a certain number of mutually independent support arms. Each support arm is part of a cylindrical shell. The buckling deformation of the circular tube can be realized by cutting the circular tube with this method. Assuming that the material of the circular tube is super elastic, the circular tube is still in elastic deformation when it is deformed as shown in FIG. 2. In FIG. 2, the impact energy has been converted into the deformation energy of the cut section of the circular tube for storage. When the compression amount is increased step by step, by 0.2L0 in each step, it can be seen that the same buckling deformation occurs in each support arm of the paper-cut section, where the middle part of the support arm is farthest from the axial direction, while the uncut section is not deformed. After the external load is removed, the paper-cut section recovers from the buckling deformation.

[0022] According to the technical solutions of the present application, specific embodiments are selected and described as follows:

First Embodiment

[0023] Circular tubes having different numbers (m) of the paper-cut sections are provided, where the numbers respectively are 1, 2, 3 and 4. The height of the paper-cut sections and the uncut sections are both 20 mm, and the number of support arms in each paper-cut section is 12. For the circular tubes having different numbers (m) of paper-cut sections, a static displacement compression load of (20×m) mm is applied respectively, and the force-displacement response curves of different structures are obtained, as shown in FIG. 3. FIG. 4 shows the deformation simulation diagram of the circular tube having four paper-cut sections at different stages. For the circular tube having (m) paper-cut sections, (m) times of destabilization may occur during the entire deformation process, that is, there are (m) critical buckling stresses. As the number (m) increases, the force-displacement response curve of the circular tube becomes longer and gentler, which means that the deformation stroke thereof is longer, which may provide reference for designing structures with good energy absorption characteristics.

Second Embodiment

[0024] As shown in FIG. 5, 11×11 circular tubes in the first embodiment are used to form a square array. The circular tubes are equally spaced, and are placed in a perforated plate as shown in the figure (the number of plates can be appropriately increased) to fix the positions of the circular tubes. The total height of the circular tubes, the spacing between adjacent circular tubes, and the position of the paper-cut section may be freely selected according to the actual situation.

[0025] The above described embodiments are only preferred embodiments of the present disclosure and are not intended to limit the present disclosure in any way. Any simple modifications, changes, and equivalent substitutions made to the above embodiments according to the technical essence of the present disclosure still fall within the protection scope of the technical solutions of the present disclosure.