Numerical and analytical study on deep biaxial bending collapse of thin-walled beams

The objective of the paper is to get a fundamental understanding of large rotation response of thin-walled prismatic beams subjected to biaxial bending. Square and rectangular section beams were subjected to a cantilever bending with hinge rotation up to 40 degrees. A general purpose nonlinear FE code PAM-CRASH was used to generate results. Altogether 94 computer runs were made by changing aspect ratio, condition of the loading and bending plane with respect to principal inertia axes of the cross section. The main emphasis was placed on the determination of initial and subsequent yield loci. It was also shown that the direction of the vector of generalized strain rates obeys the normality rule. Calculated in the paper was also a critical angle defining a preferable direction of bending. The present finding can be used to better interpret results of FE calculation of automotive bodies and to develop simplified crash-oriented design tools. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.