Bending collapse of thin-walled beams with channel cross-section

In this article, the bending collapse behaviour of a thin-walled channel beam is studied and its bending resistance is derived. The derived bending resistance is then applied for creating nonlinear rotational spring elements that can properly predict the crash behaviour of plastic hinges in the thin-walled channel beam model. Simplified thin-walled channel beam models are developed by using the beam element and the new nonlinear spring element and following certain modelling methods. Both detailed and simplified models are used for crashworthiness analyses, and the results are recorded and compared. Relatively good agreement is achieved between these analyses, while the computing time is significantly reduced for the presented simplified models.