Behaviour of ultra-high strength steel hollow tubes subjected to low velocity lateral impact: Experiment and finite element analysis

This paper presents experimental and numerical study on the behaviour of ultra-high strength steel (UHSS) hollow tubes under low velocity lateral impact loading. A total of six specimens were tested under lateral impact loading. The finite element (FE) model was established with the consideration of the strain rate effect and validated against test results. The parametric study showed that UHSS hollow tubes had the similar failure pattern when compared to that of normal strength steel members. The mid-span deflection and the residual deformation decreased significantly when the UHSS tube was applied.