Crashworthiness behavior of thin-walled bioinspired structures in the coconut palm

Bioinspired design has been addressed in the literature to create new structures based on the analysis of mechanical properties of living organisms, particularly this research is bioinspired in the structure, properties, and anatomy of the coconut palm (Cocos nucifera) present in the Panamanian vegetation. In this research, twelve thin-walled structures with cylindrical and square shapes were designed and modeled through the finite element method based on previous research. Collision behavior was evaluated by numerical simulation using Abaqus/CAE 2017 software. The performance of the bio-inspired models is evaluated based on five collision resistance criteria, these are energy absorption (EA), specific energy absorption (SEA), mean crushing force (MCF), maximum crushing force (PCF) and crushing force efficiency (CFE). The test methodology is under dynamic axial crushing load and oblique crushing load for angles from 5° to 30° with increments every 5°. Of the bio-inspired models, two models with cylindrical shape (CG-1 and CG2-1) and two models with square shape (SG1-2 and SG2-1) gave the best results with respect to the conventional hollow structure. It should be noted that better performance was obtained with models whose geometry has a cylindrical shape and has an internal design that includes arches. Finally, although they are not the best in comparison with other designs in the literature, do have the potential to be used as energy absorbing structures.