Citation
Abu Khadra, Fayiz Y. M.
(2002)
Crushing Behaviour of Woven Roving Glass Fibre/Epoxy Laminated Composite Rectangular Tubes Subjected to 'Quasi-Static Compressive Load.
Masters thesis, Universiti Putra Malaysia.
Abstract
The automotive industry is exploring to adapting more fibre reinforced composite
materials due to their stiffness to weight ratio. The amount of energy that a vehicle
absorbs during a collision is a matter of concern to ensure safer and more reliable
vehicle. The efficient use of composite material in the field of crash worthiness
depends on the understanding of how a composite member absorbs and dissipates
energy during the event of an impact.
An experimental and finite element investigation of the woven roving glass
fibre/epoxy laminated composite rectangular tubes subjected to compressive loading
were carried out under compressive loading. Through out this investigation,
rectangular tubes with different cross-sectional aspect ratio varying (alb) from 1 to 2
with 0.25 increment were investigated under axial and lateral loading conditions
applied independently. The effects of increasing the cross-sectional aspect ratio on
the load carrying capacity and the energy absorption capability were also presented
and discussed. Finite element models to predict the load carrying capacity, failure mechanism and stress contours at pre-crush stage of the rectangular tubes under
axial and lateral loading conditions have been developed.
Experimental results show that the cross-sectional aspect ratio significantly affects
the load carrying capacity and the energy absorption capability of the tubes. The
axially loaded rectangular tubes have better load carrying capacity and energy
absorption capability compared to the laterally loaded rectangular tubes. The
buckling failure mode has been identified for the rectangular tubes under the
different loading conditions.
The developed finite element models approximately predict the initial failure load
and the deformed shapes. The discrepancy between the finite element prediction and
the experimental results is due to the assumption made in the finite element models
and not considering the imperfection of the real tubes in the finite element models.
From the experimental and finite element results 'knockdown' factors have been
proposed to be used in the design phase of energy absorption elements to predict the
initial failure load.
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