Impact of the inclination angle of corrugated energy absorbers on the Crashworthiness performance: Numerical study

In the present study, cylindrical energy absorbers with various corrugation inclination angles were numerically analysed to evaluate their crashworthiness under quasi-static axial loading. Simulations were performed using ANSYS/Explicit Dynamics, operated in a quasi-static regime by applying a sufficiently slow loading rate to suppress inertial effects. Seven designs were evaluated: a smooth tube (no corrugation) and corrugated tubes with inclination angles of 0°, 15°, 30°, 45°, 60°, and 90°, measured from the horizontal axis.The total absorbed energy (TAE), mean crushing load (MCL), stroke efficiency (SE), specific energy absorption (SEA), initial peak force (IPF), and crushing force efficiency (CFE) were computed for each inclination case. TAE was calculated by exporting the force–displacement data from ANSYS as tabulated results, importing them into Excel sheet, and applying the trapezoidal rule to estimate the area under the curve. The case of 90° recorded the highest TAE (8,382.55 J), followed by the smooth (non-corrugated) tube (6,049.32 J). The lowest TAE value was the case of 30° (4,278.42 J) for 30°, indicating that mid-range inclination angles (30° and 45°) may lead to early instability and reduced plastic fold development. The 60° and 90° configurations showed improved performance, likely due to the formation of diagonal or shear-assisted folding paths that spread deformation more uniformly and delayed densification. The initial peak force (IPF) is lowest for the 0° corrugated case (27,555 N) and highest for the 90° case (102,570 N). This trend aligns with shell structure mechanics and plastic collapse theory, which suggest that as the corrugation angle increases, the structure develops more transverse stiffness and localized geometric resistance. These features delay the onset of plastic deformation and require a higher initial load to initiate global collapse. As a result, the load path shifts from a mostly axial mode to a combined axial-transverse response. This transition leads to higher initial resistance and explains the rise in peak force with steeper corrugation angles.This study provides an insight into the impact of corrugations and corrugation angle on the energy absorber performance, and crashworthiness systems in different applications (e.g. automotive and aerospace engineering, structural).