Effects of Mesh Size and Remapping on the Predicted Crush Response of Hydroformed Tubes

Crashworthiness simulations can be useful tools in vehicle design. According to Du Bois [1], there are many factors which affect the reliability of crashworthiness models. Especially, the mesh size and the mapping of forming results into crash models. Few studies have analyzed the mesh size effect with forming results on the crashworthiness of frame components. This paper presents an analysis of crush response of hydroformed aluminium tubes from both experiments and finite element simulations. The predicted crush response for tubes meshed with different mesh sizes for hydroforming with results transferred to the crash simulations will be firstly shown. Predicted mean crush forces will be compared to measured ones. Thereafter, forming results were remapped on a secondary model, having coarser mesh sizes for crush simulations, with the LS-DYNA option called *INCLUDE_STAMPED_PART. Results show that in certain instances, it may be better to use a fine mesh size for the hydroforming models and remap forming results to coarser mesh sizes for crashworthiness models to save computational time.