Experimental Investigation into the Energy Absorption of Composite-metal Tubes Subjected to Lateral Load

This paper studies the flattening process of empty and polyurethane foam-filled composite-metal tubes, experimentally. To prepare these specimens, metal tubes were wrapped with a fiber-reinforced composite using hand layup method. For the metal tubes, two kinds of materials, aluminum and brass, were used, and the composite tubes were made of woven E-glass fiber and vinyl ester resin. A composite tube and a metal tube were tested to compare their flattening process with the results of composite-metal tubes. The specimens were laterally compressed between two rigid plates in quasi-static condition. According to the results, specific absorbed energy (SAE: absorbed energy to the specimen mass) by a studied composite tube is about 1.5 times bigger than the SAE by the metal tubes. However, the deformation mode of the metal tube is more regular than the composite tube. So, in composite-metal tubes, the metal part causes regularity in deformation, and the composite part causes higher energy absorption capacity and lower density at the same time. Finally, the effects of some parameters such as the tubes length, foam-filler, foam adhesion, and density on the energy absorption characteristics of composite-metal tubes are studied. The results indicate that wrapping the metal tubes by composite materials causes more regularity in deformation, higher energy absorption capacity, and lower density, simultaneously.