Deformation of small diameter aluminum alloy (AA6063T5) circular tubes subjected to lateral low-velocity impact

Abstract This paper presents an experimental and theoretical study on the deformation of small diameter aluminum alloy (AA6063T5) circular tubes under lateral impact loading. Seven specimens classified as three groups were investigated by the drop weight test. The patterns and extent of damage between specimens were compared and discussed. Moreover, the experimental results show that the performance of specimens subjected to the lateral impact is significantly affected by the diameter-thickness ratio and impact energy while the impact momentum has little effect. The springback of the global displacement is found to be negatively correlated with the ratio of the impact energy and the diameter-thickness ratio. Afterward, this study develops an analytic solution on the elastoplastic global displacement of AA6063T5 tubes based on vibration theory. Compared to the experimental results, the elastic solution predicted the global displacement of the aluminum alloy specimens reasonably.