Comparison of different thermoplastic cellular textile composites on their energy absorption capacity

This paper examines the energy-absorption behaviour and mechanism of various thermoplastic cellular textile composites with flat-topped grid-domed cellular structure under quasi-static compression and impact conditions. The fabrication process of compression molding the cellular textile composites made of UHMWPE/LDPE knitted, PET/PP knitted, and PET/PP non-woven systems, and injection molding the pure LDPE and pure PP cellular structure are described. The effects of impact energy, fibre type, fibre volume fractions and fibre architecture on the energy absorption capacity of the cellular composites, are discussed. The cell recovery after impact is also presented. The equivalent cell wall thickness is shown to be a pre-dominant factor governing the energy absorption capacity of the cellular structure. With a constant thickness, increase in fibre volume fraction would lead to an increase in composite toughness as well as the energy absorption capacity. Different deformation modes for both of the knitted and non-woven cellular composites, which are mainly due to their fibre architectures and cell wall thickness, are observed. 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.