Experimental Techniques, vol.47, no.6, pp.1275-1283, 2023 (SCI-Expanded)
© 2022, The Society for Experimental Mechanics, Inc.In real collision conditions, axial crushing rarely occurs. Generally, lateral collapse occurs in thin-walled beams under collision conditions. The bending displacement of thin-walled beams is one of the most important deformation mechanisms to dissipate the kinetic energy generated by the collision. Bending displacement deformation occurs in pure bending and three-point bending modes. However, pure bending is rarely encountered in real collision events. The three-point bending analysis is more complex as it involves variable bending moment and shear forces at different cross-sections. In this study, it is aimed to investigate the behavior of thin-walled s235 structural steel under three-point bending in three different section geometries as square, rectangular and, tube. Experiments were performed using three different punch geometries and three different span distances for each section. It is concluded that the influence of section geometries of thin-walled structures, span distance, and punch radius has a significant effect on the deformation pattern and force/bending moment response of thin-walled structures.