An experimental study on the axial collapse characteristics of hat and double hat shaped section members at various velocities

In this study, the axial collapse tests were performed under either static (or quasi-static) or impact loads with several collapse velocities based on the expectation that para-closed sections of the front-end side members (spot welded hat and double hat shaped section members) would show quite different collapse characteristics from those for seamless section. The test results showed that both of the hat and double hat shaped section members failed in the stable sequential collapse mode in the static or quasi-static collapse tests, while the double hat shaped section members underwent the unstable collapse mode especially when the impact velocity is high. The mean collapse loads in the hat shaped section members increase with collapse velocity for all the cases of the static, quasi-static, and impact collapse tests. In the double hat shaped section members, however, the mean collapse loads decrease with increase in collapse velocity in the impact tests.