Abstract
In this study, a new type of energy absorbers with a functionally graded thickness is investigated, these type of absorbers absorb energy through expanding-folding processes. The expanding-folding absorbers are composed of two sections: a thin-walled aluminum matrix and a thin-walled steel mandrel. Previous studies have shown higher efficiency of the mentioned absorbers compared to the conventional ones. In this study, the effect of thickness which has been functionally-graded on the aluminum matrix (in which expansion occurs) was investigated. To this end, initial functions were considered for the matrix thickness, which was ascending/descending along the axis. The study was done experimentally and numerically. Comparing the experimental data with the numerical results showed high consistency between the numerical and experimental results. In the final section of this study, the best energy absorber functionally graded thickness was introduced by optimization using a third -order genetic algorithm. The optimization results showed that by choosing a minimum thickness of 1.6 mm and the exponential coefficient of 3.25, the most optimal condition can be obtained for descending thickness absorbers.