Citation

Huang J, Wang X. Int. J. Crashworthiness 2010; 15(6): 625-634.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2010, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/13588265.2010.484194

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

A new crush trigger, called crown trigger, is introduced at one end of carbon-fibre-reinforced polymer circular tubes. Quasi-static compression tests are performed on the tubes to investigate their energy absorption characteristics. It is observed that all tubes are crushed in a brittle fracturing mode. Both crown trigger and bevel trigger can effectively control the position of crushing initiation, reduce the peak load and increase the crushing stability. It is also found that the tube wall of each specimen is delaminated mainly into three layers. The relatively intact exterior layer may constrain the axial splits of the middle layer, make the lamina bundles break off near the base, slow down the central wall crack propagation and thus eliminate a low-performance failure mode. As compared with the bevel trigger, the crown trigger provides nearly the same specific energy absorption but 18.4% lower specific triggering stress and 21.2% higher crushing load efficiency.