An experimental investigation into crushing behavior of radially stiffened GFRP composite tubes

State-of-the-art studies of the crushing of composite tubes reveal different factors affecting their crashworthiness. Of those factors, the geometrical property of the tube is of great interest. In the current study, four different categories of tube cross-sectional geometrical properties were tested under a quasi-static crushing scenario to investigate the best cross-section in terms of the crushing load and the energy-absorption capacities. A woven GFRP consisting of eight layers was used to manufacture the tubes. The results showed that reinforcing the circular tube with radial GFRP webs could improve both the load-carrying capacity and the specific energy-absorption capability. The stability of the crushing process is of great interest in automotive applications. It was found that introducing the geometrical reinforcement inside the tubes could have a positive effect on the stability of the crushing during the loading, the average crush load, and the crush-load efficiency. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.