Bending collapse of thin plate with corrugated cross-section

In this paper, the collapse behaviors of thin plate with corrugated cross-section subjected to three-point bending are studied by using the finite element method. In order to estimate the energyabsorption characteristics of the beam, it is vital to understand the relation of load and displacement. It is found that the load decreases by flattening of the cross-section of the beam, and the flattening shape can be quantitatively expressed by using curvature radius of the plane of the top and bottom in the cross-section. Based on an idea that the external work is mainly expended by the flattening deformation of the cross-section, a new prediction method is proposed for estimating the relation of load and displacement. Its validity is verified by comparing with the numerical results by FEM under various conditions.