Energy absorption of aluminium alloy circular and square tubes under an axial explosive load D. Karagiozova a, * , G.N. Nurick b , S. Chung Kim Yuen b a Institute of Mechanics, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Acad. G. Bonchev Street, Block 4, 1113 Sofia, Bulgaria b Blast Impact and Survivability Research Unit (BISRU), Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Cape Town, Private Bag, 7701 Rondebosch 7701, Cape Town, South Africa Received 3 May 2004; accepted 16 November 2004 Available online 23 March 2005 Abstract The energy absorption of circular and square aluminium alloy tubes subjected to an axial explosive load, which is transmitted to a tube by a small attached mass, is discussed. Particular attention is paid to the interaction between the inertia of the attached mass and a tube when the importance of the initial compression phase is revealed. The effect of this phase on the mean load, which is characteristic of the energy absorption capacity of structural elements, is demonstrated. The influence of the material models on the prediction of the response of aluminium alloy circular and square tubes is also discussed in relation with the temperature effects caused by the high strain rates. The analysis shows that the material properties play an important role for the formation of the buckling pattern due to the finite duration of the initial compression phase when plastic stress waves at different speeds propagate along a shell. q 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Explosive load; Energy absorption; Circular and square tubes Thin-Walled Structures 43 (2005) 956–982 www.elsevier.com/locate/tws 0263-8231/$ - see front matter q 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.tws.2004.11.002 * Corresponding author. Fax: C359 2870 7498. E-mail address: d.karagiozova@imbm.bas.bg (D. Karagiozova).