Abbas Niknejad - Mechanical Engineering Department, Yasouj University, Yasouj, Iran
Asghar Dashti Rahmatabadi - Mechanical Engineering Department, Yazd Universty, Yazd, Iran
Mehdi Mansouri - Mechanical Engineering Department, Yazd Universty, Yazd, Iran
Seyed Mohammad Elahi - Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department, Shiraz University of Technology, Shiraz, Iran

This paper presents the responses of rectangular columns and nested column system under quasistatic lateral loading. Nested systems in the form of short internally stacked tubes were proposed as energy absorbing structures for applications that have limited crush zones. The crush behavior and energy absorbing responses of these specimens under flattening process were presented and compared with each other. Flattening tests were performed by a DMG machine, model 7166 at a constant cross head speed of 10mm/min in quasi-static condition. In all the experiments, load–deformation curves were obtained by machine chart recorder. It was found that the nested system absorbed 88% more enegy than single columns, appriximatelly.

Column, Nested system, Energy absorbing, Flattening, Quasi-static loading